


I'll Tell You Later

by mago_teung



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Beach Holidays, Blood and Injury, Declarations Of Love, Established Relationship, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, Falling In Love, Fluff and Crack, Gang Violence, Gun Violence, Idiots in Love, Kink Exploration, M/M, Organized Crime, Possessive Behavior, Romantic Fluff, Secret Identity, Undercover Missions, Violence, mafia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:55:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 60,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24500416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mago_teung/pseuds/mago_teung
Summary: 4-Eyes was typically an insult to the average glasses-user.  However, to Tsukishima Kei, it was a name he used to scare everyone.  The mention of that name made people shake with fear, grab their weapons in terror, and run as fast as they could.  Karasuno was known to be the most dangerous and stealthiest mafia in Japan, and 4-Eyes, to Karasuno, was their leader.To Yamaguchi however, Tsukishima was his boyfriend.  Sweet, serious Tsuki who had a secret sweet tooth and treated Yamaguchi as if he were a precious jewel.  Their relationship has been going like this since they met, Tsukishima hiding his real status from Yamaguchi, and Yamaguchi being the sweetest lover ever met.  But when you're in love, it's close to impossible to keep secrets from each other - and Tsukishima had no intention letting Yamaguchi or his status as a mafia leader go.Side Couples :Hinata knows Kageyama is in the mafia, so he makes sure that Kageyama has an extra big bento to give him energy to kick some bad guy ass!Nishinoya attempts to recruit Asahi to join their mafia, but it turns out that florists don't have that particular interest.Akaashi and Bokuto are thriving.And Ukai and Takeda just want everyone safe.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Takeda Ittetsu/Ukai Keishin, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 98
Kudos: 488





	1. 4-Eyes and Yamaguchi

"Shut the fuck up already!" Tsukishima snarled, stabbing his knife right in the thigh of his hostage, who was also gagged and tied up with rope. The stab on his thigh caused him to groan loudly behind the gag, Tsukishima kissing his teeth at the amount of noise he was making, yet still was not giving him any information Tsukishima was asking for. 

"Don't be a pussy." He pulled the knife out, an open wound now on the hostage's thigh, blood gushing everywhere, first on the hostage's body only, but soon enough dripping on the ground. Tsukishima kicked his stomach which earned another groan, then stepped on his thigh right on where the open wound was. The poor man howled in pain, but still wouldn't talk.

"It probably doesn't even hurt that much."

This man, the hostage, was apparently following Tsukishima around for the past 3 days. Obviously he didn't do a good job because Nishinoya was able to alert Tsukishima within those 3 days - Nishinoya, for fucks sake. So naturally, he had to beat the guy up a little bit to get him to spill about who was behind all this. Who was so interested in Tsukishima that they made someone follow him around and monitor his everyday life.  
Along with finding out that he was being followed, Kageyama - his right hand man, or as Tsukishima dubbed him, 'King' - also found photos of Tsukishima. Photos of him in his lectures, going home at night, and the worst ones of all, photos with Yamaguchi. 

That was what made him snap.

"Hey, don't die on me." Tsukishima demanded harshly as he pressed his shoe against the man's cheek, noticing his eyes were closing. He couldn't have him unconscious when he hasn't told him anything yet. "I'm not done with you."

The hostage looked up at Tsukishima with a dirty look, making the mafia leader raise an eyebrow. He leaned down and took the gag off of him, tilting his head to the side.  
"Ready to talk?"

Tsukishima flinched as he felt spit on his cheek, sighing softly when he realized just how loyal this man must be to their leader. So either this man was really that much of a wuss, or he was that much of a dumbass and didn't realize the position he was in right now. Because there was no way another leader was scarier than Tsukishima, and if they were, Tsukishima would've made sure to do something about it by now.

"The only reason you're alive right now is because I have a heart." Tsukishima took the knife in his hand and slash right on the man's left eye, earning an ear piercing scream and several sobs. More blood splattered down and he could tell just by looking that if that much blood was outside his body, he wouldn't be awake for much longer.   
"Now, before I take your eye out," Tsukishima slashed his knife again on the hostage's left cheek, the man's jaw locking as he looked at Tsukishima, now with only 1 eye. "I'll give you one more chance to speak. I expect a 'thank you' for the gentleness I've shown you up to now."

The hostage was silent for a moment and Tsukishima allowed it. He was losing more and more blood by the second, so perhaps his brain was a little slower than normal right now.

"4-Eyes..." The hostage looked up at Tsukishima with a dirty grin before he began to laugh. It was menacing, almost mocking, and Tsukishima rewarded it with a stab in the other eye. The blood sprayed out this time, getting on Tsukishima's clothes and glasses, adding onto the blood that was already on his gloves. This was taking a longer time than usual, which was pissing him off, but until this man was dead or finally snitched, he wasn't moving either. 

"You think," the hostage started talking, making Tsukishima stop from stabbing him in the other thigh, waiting for the man to finish his sentence. If this was another nonsense comment, his throat would be next.  
"You think...you're the greatest leader...but you're wrong-"

At that moment Tsukishima's phone started ringing. Usually he would be pissed by now, but since it didn't seem like this man was on his way to tell him anything important, he didn't make a big deal out of it. And good thing, because when he saw who was calling he had to calm his heart rate down. 

"Shut your mouth." Tsukishima snarled, glaring down at his hostage. If Tsukishima knew the caller more than anyone else, than he knew that the ringing would last as long as possible, so he still had time to shut his hostage up.  
"You hear this?" Tsukishima motioned to his phone. "This right here, is my heart. So if you want to keep yours, I suggest you shut the fuck up right now."

This seemed to motivate the hostage a little, his mouth shutting up quickly, probably also wanting a chance of making it out alive, but most likely they both knew the outcome of this interaction, and Tsukishima had the upper hand.   
When the hostage went completely silent, Tsukishima stepped on his face, right on his mouth for good measure. A brief moan in pain was let out, but after that it was all silence. Once he was sure there would be no interruptions, he answered the phone and held it to his ear.

"Hi baby."  
"Tsuki!"

The sweet voice on the other side of the call eased Tsukishima a ton, especially since he was under a lot of stress right now. Taking care of a stubborn hostage was a lot more work than he was cut out for on a Thursday evening, especially when he could be spending plenty of time with Yamaguchi right now. His cover was that he had a part time job in a warehouse, which in a sense wasn't a complete lie.

"What's up?" Tsukishima asked calmly, as if the dying man beneath his foot wasn't there, struggling for his life.  
"Are you still at work?"  
"Oh...." Tsukishima hesitated, pulling the phone away briefly to check the time so he could make up a convincing lie. "I just got off. Why?""Oh nothing. If you had some time, wanna meet up?"

The suggestion made Tsukishima smile slightly, imagining the excited look on Yamaguchi's face as the silence indicated that Tsukishima was checking if he did have some time. Having someone who actually wanted your company was an amazing feeling, at least to Tsukishima, especially when that wanting person was Yamaguchi.

"Yeah, I can meet up. How about in an hour? I'm in the middle of some errands right now." Tsukishima could practically see Yamaguchi's beaming face.  
"Alright! I'll meet you at the park!"  
"Okay, I'll be there. See you, Yamaguchi."  
Tsukishima was about to hang up, but Yamaguchi quickly stopped him. 

"Tsuki?"  
"Yes, Yamaguchi?"  
"I love you."  
"I know, Yamaguchi."  
"....."  
"I love you too."

Without hearing the reaction, though Tsukishima desperately would love to hear the squeals and panting, he hung up. The hostage under him wasn't going to be alive forever, and he still hadn't gotten the information he wanted.

"Now, you." Tsukishima snarled in disgust, taking the knife out of his thigh and pointing the knife at the man's throat. "If you answer my questions properly then I'll be nice."  
The hostage chuckled and shook his head, blood spilling out of his mouth. His voice and wheezing were both hoarse, barely coming out of his mouth. If you could hear what he was saying, then you couldn't be exactly sure that what you heard was accurate.

"Even if I tell you," he panted, not bothering to try and look prideful, since he knew his fate in this place anyway. "You'll kill me. I'd rather...die...keeping my...word."

Tsukishima looked at him with an amused expression, tilting his head to look directly at him, trying to see if there was at least a bit of hesitation. He had to admit, whoever this man's leader was, they probably were good with their words, because his idiocy was not backing down.

"Then you're of no use to me." Tsukishima took his knife and plunged it straight into the man's heart.

After the clean up of his mess and Tsukishima changing into some clean clothes, he was ready to go out and see Yamaguchi. The headquarters for the Karasuno mafia was in an abandoned warehouse - warehouse _s_ to be precise. 3 of them that Nishinoya 'inherited' from his uncle when he passed, but Tsukishima wouldn't tell him it was probably because no one else in his family would want such a dark, big space in the sketchiest place in probably all of Japan. For them, it was perfect.

"Tanaka Shu." Kageyama said as he walked into Tsukishima's office, dropping a file down on Tsukishima's desk. There was a picture of the hostage, now with a name, on the front of the file which confirmed that this was the man Tsukishima was torturing only a few minutes ago. Tsukishima sighed, nodding his head, but didn't open the file. He knew once he opened it he would want to stay and learn all he could about the man and where he came from, but right now more than anything, he wanted to go see Yamaguchi.

"Thanks." Tsukishima mumbled as he changed the case on his phone, the old one being dirtied with blood. He assigned Nishinoya to burn everything a few minutes ago, including the body, and was about ready to go until something came to mind.

"Kageyama." Tsukishima looked at his right hand man, the same straight face that Tsukishima wore all the time, with a few rare exceptions. Kageyama stopped where he was, full attention on his leader. 

"How...did you tell Hinata that you were in the mafia?"

The question took Kageyama by surprise and he relaxed a little bit, figuring this was more of a 'friend' conversation than a task or a mission. Though they never called each other friends, the occasional, rare time they did confide in each other made their relationship a little more complicated than colleagues. And you only kill other people with the people you trust, don't you?

"I told him on the first date." Kageyama answered honestly, making Tsukishima raise an eyebrow in curiosity.   
"Oh? And how did that go?"  
"He laughed and told me he liked how I could say anything with a straight face."

Tsukishima understood that Hinata probably didn't _know_ know the whole time then. Yamaguchi must've seen some sort of suspicious acts out of Tsukishima though, right?  
_'No,'_ he thought to himself. _'Yamaguchi's too innocent to come to this conclusion.'_

"What about the first time he saw you in action?" Tsukishima tried asking. "The first time he saw you doing a mission."

Kageyama thought about for a solid minute, gathering the memory then nodded. "I remember," he answered. "We had wall sex."

Tsukishima scowled at him, hating the smug smirk on his face indicating that Tsukishima reacted the exact way he wanted. "Oh, don't tell you've never had wall sex, 4-Eyes."

"Who's never had wall sex?" A very loud Nishinoya entered the room, smelling like smoke from all the burning, which wasn't as bad as they thought. He probably sprayed a ton of cologne to cover it up, but them being used to it was probably also a factor.

"4-Eyes here," Kageyama snickered, making Nishinoya laugh as well. "No way! You've only ever had sex horizontally? La-a-a-ame!"

Tsukishima hated how they found amusement in his crisis, but he didn't have time to insult them back. He needed legit advice and there was no one else on the team that experienced his position.  
He knew from being told, Kageyama didn't hesitate telling Hinata that he was apart of the mafia. In terms of confidentiality, Kageyama was sure that anyone Hinata told this to wouldn't believe him since he was that stupid.

No one else on the team had a lover, as far as he knew. And if they did, Tsukishima probably didn't care enough to ask them.

"I'm trying to figure out how to tell Yamaguchi..." Tsukishima explained. "About Karasuno and...me."

The 2 members went silent, even Nishinoya stopped laughing. The 3 were now in thought, and Tsukishima would like to think that it was because they were all thinking of ways to have a positive reaction to this. A positive reaction that didn't end in a breakup. 

"The longer you wait though, won't it be worse?" Nishinoya ended up saying, since it was clear that no one had an idea. "I mean, you've been dating for a year and a half, right? Once you hit a 2 year mark, don't think that's a little late? The longer you wait, the more mad he'll be."

Tsukishima sighed and rubbed his forehead, not being able to answer because Nishinoya was right. He should've told Yamaguchi sooner, but every time he had an opportunity, it just didn't feel right for whatever excuse Tsukishima could conveniently make up in that moment. In the end, he never said anything, and now they were here - 2 dumbasses and Tsukishima, trying to work together to come up with a way to tell him finally.

"Well, whatever you do, Yamaguchi will probably still stay with you." Kageyama told him, which didn't exactly settle Tsukishima's nerves at all. In fact, it might of made things worse.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Tsukishima asked, crossing his arms and giving him a sort of warning of a glare. Kageyama didn't look scared though - that glare was given to him at least twice a day.  
"It's suppose to mean that Yamaguchi would probably even go out of his way to defend you." Kageyama explained, not shaking, even though Nishinoya was already in a defensive position. The room had so much tension between them already without talking to each other, Nishinoya hated it when one of them opened their mouth.

"It's a compliment," Kageyama ended up saying, knowing better that this was a sensitive topic and he shouldn't take advantage of this particular weakness. If Kageyama was in his position, surely there would be more stress and worry.

Tsukishima didn't see it as a compliment however. His biggest fear _was_ that Yamaguchi wasn't going to take this news seriously, and if he did he would see Tsukishima as the good guy, defending himself and saving people. That wasn't the case.  
Tsukishima was saving his _own_ people. Even though that definitely consisted of Yamguchi, it still didn't excuse the many crimes he committed, including murder, theft, vandalism, smuggling, drug exportation and money laundering. Tsukishima was a criminal - and Yamaguchi looked at him like he was the universe.

"Thanks." Tsukishima ended up mumbling, taking his bag and walking out. He couldn't hear anymore of this. If his two closest members of his team, one of them literally being the best besides Tsukishima, couldn't think of a solution to his problem, then Tsukishima was ultimately, utterly fucked.

"Tsuki!" Yamaguchi called out excitedly, holding a cake box, which Tsukishima could pretty much guess what was inside. Yamaguchi knew him very well - or, as well as Tsukishima could allow.

"I tried to get something different," Yamaguchi explained as Tsukishima got close enough to look inside the box. It was a strawberry cheesecake instead of shortcake. His only reaction was a small smile and a peck on Yamaguchi's cheek. There was a lot on his mind right now, and even though cake always brought his mood up, seeing Yamaguchi was the real remedy.   
Correction : Seeing Yamaguchi safe and looking at Tsukishima like he was not a monster.

"How was work?" Yamaguchi asked as he closed the cake box, starting to walk down the path of the park, Tsukishima standing beside him and reaching his hand down to hold Yamaguchi's. It was dark and no one was there - Tsukishima double checked before going to Yamaguchi - so he decided a little PDA would be okay for now.

"It was fine..Nishinoya was a little troublesome, but I managed."  
The story was, Nishinoya and him worked at a warehouse part time, mainly cleaning and assisting. It managed to explain the late shifts and awkward schedule, their sore bodies after those long shifts, and the occasional weird smell on their clothes. Yamaguchi has bought it up till now.

"Oh? Well, Noya is a lot more energetic than me, so.." Yamaguchi chuckled softly, looking down. Tsukishima knew that just being here together made Yamaguchi nervous and excited. The effect he had on Yamaguchi was a power Tsukishima was terrified of sometimes, yet he abused it more often than he liked to admit. Hell, he used it to make sure Yamaguchi didn't ever suspect anything off of him.

"Yamaguchi," Tsukishima started off, his tone already off but he quickly recovered. "Do you keep secrets from me?"

"Of course not." The reply was a little too quick than what made Tsukishima comfortable. Even a little bit of thought would be preferred, but he figured as much since Yamaguchi was already a very honest person to begin with. 

"You're the person I love the most. Why would I not tell you my secrets?"

There was unfamiliar twist in Tsukishima's stomach that he ignored. "Stupid," he scoffed softly. "What about your parents?"

"Yeah, but I already moved out. And my parents are happy and have each other. You though, uhm, I guess what I'm saying is, well, I..." Yamaguchi stopped walking, and Tsukishima could end the sentence easily. However, he acted ignorant and waited for Yamaguchi to finish the sentence.  
"I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So why should I, you know, keep secrets from you?"

Tsukishima's stomach did another one of those twists that he hated. Seeing Yamaguchi's sincere face and how his words held a deeper meaning than what Yamaguchi let on, it made him frustrated and calm and excited. Too many emotions that Tsukishima didn't even emote, even though he wanted to so badly. He just couldn't.

"Tsuki...you're the same, aren't you?"

Tsukishima's jaw tensed every so slightly so Yamaguchi didn't catch it. Without saying anything, Tsukishima leaned down and kissed Yamaguchi, soft and slow. The shorter male hummed and lifted his empty hand to Tsukishima's cheek, not wanting him to end the kiss. It deepened in a few seconds and now Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were sharing an open mouthed kiss in the middle of the park where the world could see them.   
Neither wanted to stop.

"Come to my place tonight." Tsukishima whispered to Yamaguchi, his arm snaking around Yamaguchi's waste and pulling him closer. Yamaguchi's face and neck went pink at the suggestion, knowing the expectation of coming over. The lack of answer to his question now was long forgotten.

"I have a lecture at 10 AM tomorrow," Yamaguchi mumbled back, then looked up at Tsukishima with what looked like a desperate expression. 

" _You_ come to _my_ place tonight."


	2. Lectures and Bad News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukishima is having a hard time with his current mission - telling Yamaguchi he's 4-Eyes. He tries to get some advice from his professor, but everything ultimately lands on him. Yamaguchi is a little shaken by the murders and missing people lately.

"Tsuki...Tsuki..." A gentle voice whispered in Tsukishima's ear several times. The blond stirred in his sleep, wanting a few more minutes. Last night was tiring, from the murder he committed to the ass he fucked - he just wanted some sleep.

"Tsuki, I'm leaving for my lecture now." He recognized Yamaguchi's voice, then the soft lips pressing a kiss on his temple. "Make you sure you eat something too, okay?" Yamaguchi kissed him again on the cheek, figuring Tsukishima was just going to sleep away so he didn't bother forcing him to wake up. But when Yamaguchi began to leave, Tsukishima quickly extended his arm and grabbed Yamaguchi's wrist, preventing him to go. His eyes also finally opened.

"We went for 3 rounds last night," Tsukishima mumbled, his morning voice messing up Yamaguchi's mind but he couldn't afford to lose any more commute time, so he controlled himself. "How are you so energetic right now?" 

Yamaguchi giggled softly and petted Tsukishima's head, leaning down again to kiss his forehead, Tsukishima humming and sitting up slowly. His eyes were still half-closed, honestly not even that awake. But his body just wanted to spend a little more time with Yamaguchi that he forced himself up.

"Ah, well, sex with Tsuki refreshes me, you know?" He answered shyly, and if Tsukishima wasn't exhausted he would've made Yamaguchi even more late to his lecture.  
"C'mere." Tsukishima cupped Yamaguchi's face and pulled him in for a longer kiss, opening his mouth and forcing his tongue down Yamaguchi's. It wasn't really forcing though, since Yamaguchi reacted quickly and kissed with the same amount of intensity, shoving his tongue down Tsukishima's mouth too.   
Tsukishima was beginning to wonder lately if it was a good idea to teach Yamaguchi all these things, or if he should've let Yamaguchi be innocent all his life.

"I-I'm going.." Yamaguchi's face was red now, pulling away reluctantly in a way that made Tsukishima excited. 

_'It's okay if it's only me who sees him like this...'_

"I'll see you later then," Tsukishima let Yamaguchi go, watching as the small male left the room and waited till he heard the front door open and close, confirming Yamaguchi was gone. First, he put his glasses on so he could actually fucking see what he was doing, then got out his phone to see if there was any updates on the recent events. 

Tsukishima did have a cover, in fact, he was studying in the same University as Yamaguchi, along with a lot of their friends, just different departments. Ironically, Tsukishima took law, claiming he was aiming to become a prosecutor - meaning he knew exactly what his sentence to each and every crime he's committed would be.   
Tsukishima was supposed to be sentenced a lifetime in jail. He was supposed to serve hard time, locked in a cell where Yamaguchi would only be able to visit every 3 months and phone call once a week (if Yamaguchi still loved him). Tsukishima was supposed to be paying a heavy penalty with everything he's done this _week_ , not to mention his whole time being a mafia leader.

Yet here he was, fishing for his boxers at his boyfriend's apartment after a night of amazing fucking. 

Tsukishima didn't worry about the consequences all too much when he had something to fight for. If it meant Yamaguchi was safe, he would rob any bank, trespass any place and kill anyone necessary.

"For fucks sake..." he cursed as he saw a few notifications on his phone, most of them from Kageyama. They were mainly from Kageyama, some voicemails and then some photos and documents of different people. 

Before Tsukishima started investigating though, not trusting himself to process everything when he just woke up. He checked the time and found it was just 9:30, but when you considered he and Yamaguchi were up till 4 AM, he wondered if Yamaguchi was actually okay going to school.

He washed up, using the toothbrush Yamaguchi bought for him long ago when they started to get a little more serious with each other. Since it was usually Yamaguchi staying over at Tsukishima's place though, it was rarely used.   
Once he was finished with waking up properly - he even made the bed and picked up their clothes from last night - he went out to the kitchen, which was also the eating area, and saw Yamaguchi left him breakfast.

_Tsuki,  
Make sure you eat before you're lecture too! Hopefully you're not too lonely eating by yourself.   
Text when you're leaving ^3^ <3  
~Yamaguchi_

"Stupid," Tsukishima scoffed. "That means _you_ were lonely eating by yourself."

Tsukishima sat down and began to eat the breakfast Yamaguchi left for him - just some eggs, meat and rice - then took out his phone to see what Kageyama sent him. There were photos and documents of different men, photos of them doing every day things like going to work and walking with their families. Tsukishima went to the voicemails and began to listen to what Kageyama had to say, probably explaining what the documents and the people he sent were about.

 _"These people_ _were associated with Tanaka Shu,"_ Kageyama's voice said, getting straight to the point with no greeting or anything. Like how Tsukishima asked of everyone on the squad to be when reporting to him.  
 _"There's no clear correlation as to what they had to do with Tanaka Shu's case so far, but I'm working on it. You'll notice there's a man named_ Tanaka Saiki, _Tanaka Shu's cousin - he went missing a week ago. My guess is he suffered the same fate as Shu, but Nishinoya is on it with following every family member. The rest are colleagues and neighbours of his, and-Hinata! I'm on the fucking phone!-sorry. Anyway, uh, right, the rest of the people. We're not clear yet what his motive was because he doesn't have a wife or kids, any close family for that matter, but we're sure it has something to do with his workplace boss_ Asami Muzuru. _He was the last person Shu spoke with before Noya got him. That's my report."_

The voicemail ended and Tsukishima went straight to the file of Tanaka's cousin, Saiki. A regular man with a regular family and a regular job, all of a sudden went missing. Along with his file, Kageyama sent the reports and newsletters about the case of the missing man. But if Tsukishima knew any better, no one was really dead until you had their heart in you hands.

"Damn..." Kageyama clearly did homework because there were several people and photos of them - taken by Nishinoya - and information that was probably useless to Tsukishima as of now.  
With his mind filled with too many thoughts, he put away the whole thing, deleting Kageyama's voicemail. He's thought of buying another phone before, but if Yamaguchi found it accidentally, he wouldn't know what to say - that and he didn't feel like paying for another plan.

Tsukishima had a lecture at 11, so he decided it would be a good time to get ready, putting some proper clothes on (yes, he left clothes at Yamaguchi's too) and starting to clean up from breakfast. It was an after thought that he had to actually go home too so he could get his laptop though. With under an hour to go home then run back to the university, Tsukishima bolted out and locked the door, sending a quick message to Yamaguchi that he left. 

To only worry about being late to lecture was Tsukishima's distant fantasy. It was moments like these that made him sane, and feel like a normal person once in a while.

"Thank you for listening. I expect your thesis written by Tuesday, hard and soft copy please." Takeda-sensei dismissed the class, all of them packing up and leaving within the last 10 minutes. Everyone besides Tsukishima.

The professor noticed Tsukishima barely moved the whole lecture, not even to type any notes. Which was odd considering Tsukishima was a relatively good student, so whatever was on his mind must've been really pressing him. Takeda walked over to the Tsukishima's row and sat next to him, finally getting Tsukisima's attention and startling the student.

"Takeda-sensei!" Tsukshima looked around, shocked the lecture was over already. Takeda offered a small smile, even as Tsukishima apologized and started to pack up.

"It's fine, Tsuki-kun," Takeda chuckled, assuring Tsukishima he wasn't upset or offended. One thing Tsukishima enjoyed the most about this lecture was this particular professor, always putting his students first before any assignment. He sort of wished Yamaguchi also had him for a lecture or two.

"Anything on your mind? You know I'll be here to listen." Takeda offered gently, and he could see by Tsukishima's hesitance that he was thinking it over whether he should really go over his problem with Takeda.

It was a complete accident, a reckless mistake that Takeda found out - actually, Ukai-san found out, who happens to be Takeda's boyfriend. While taking out the garbage one night, Ukai noticed noises coming from an alley nearby, and when he went to check it out he saw Tsukishima strangling a man. After going over what happened, and Tsukishima explaining his circumstance (back then he was just getting used to whole mafia thing), Ukai decided not to tell the police. In repayment though, along with keeping him and Takeda-sensei safe, they had to volunteer as teacher's assistants or helping coach some of the teams at their campus.  
Tsukishima ended up sending Nishinoya and Tanaka to do that, and Ukai deemed their energy and enthusiasm more worthy than 10 men, so he didn't ask for more. 

Oh, and naturally Ukai just _had_ to tell his boyfriend.

"Takeda-sensei..." Tsukishima started off silently, Takeda waiting patiently, not wanting to pressure Tsukishima. "Do you...tell Ukai-san everything? Like, _everything_ everything."

Takeda nodded, understanding what the problem must be, so he put a lot of thought before answering so he could hopefully help Tsukishima and not discourage him. The obvious answer the both of them had in their minds was 'yes, of course. Why wouldn't I tell my lover everything?'. But Tsukishima didn't want to hear that right now.

"I mean, some things Ukai-san just knows, you know?" Takeda ended up saying, and Tsukishima didn't answer because he in fact did not know. "I mean, if one day I feel upset, Ukai-san knows and comforts me. If I feel happy, Ukai-san knows and celebrates with me. So there are things I don't necessarily _need_ to tell him."

Tsukishima sighed and shook his head. "I meant things like information. Those are emotions, and even _I_ can tell when you're happy or sad."

Takeda laughed and shrugged, figuring that this conversation and the advice Tsukishima was expecting was out of his hands anyway, so no matter what he said the only affect he could have was negative. Otherwise, Takeda wouldn't change Tsukishima's mindset that much.  
"Ah, well, information...that too, Ukai-san is good at finding out."

Tsukishima looked back at his professor, this time unsure what he meant. Takeda went on explaining.

"Should I say it in a story? One time, I was jealous of the students who could openly share their relationship because they were girls and boys together. Even though I knew it was stupid, I was frustrated because I wanted to hold hands with Ukai-san in public without getting weird looks. I hid this feeling for months though, because I didn't want to burden Ukai-san with those feelings either." Tsukishima didn't quite understand because jealousy was also a feeling, but he let Takeda continue.  
"One day, I crumbled and ended up buying female clothes and a wig for myself. Even if I had to disguise myself, I just wanted a normal date with Ukai-san, where we could hold hands and flirt. Obviously I didn't think it through properly because I was so embarrassed, and I haven't even told him I bought them yet. But within the week of buying them, Ukai-san confronted me about it and asked why my credit card bill had a transaction history at female clothing stores."

Tsukishima still didn't understand where this story was going until Takeda finished it off. "Ukai-san thought I was cheating."

What that had to do with Tsukishima's problem, he didn't understand until Takeda let him process it for a bit, then continued to explain.

"Emotions are apart of this problem to, no matter how hard you suppress them. Even though Ukai-san misunderstood, he still knew something was up. Whether it was my demeanor or my actions, he could tell something was wrong, despite his guess being wrong too." Takeda gave Tsukishima small smile, hoping he was getting the message.

"What I'm saying is, don't underestimate Yama-kun. No matter how good you think you are." 

Tsukishima's eyes widened slightly, nodding slowly and gulping. The thought of him figuring out Tsukishima's position without Tsukishima telling him made him shiver. It just had to be him telling Yamaguchi.

"Yama-kun is probably worried about you too."

Takeda stood up and let Tsukishima stand up too, waving him off. "Thank you, Takeda-sensei." Tsukishima bowed to Takeda, leaving the classroom, unsure if he felt better or much, much worse.

"Tsuki!" 

The smaller male greeted, running to Tsukishima with his arms open and hugging his waste. It was lunch time and they agree to have a little date at the school's cafeteria. Even a little time like this together, it made both their hearts overflow with happiness.

"What do you feel like eating?""My craving doesn't matter. The cafeteria doesn't take your order."

Once the couple got their tray of food, they went and sat down, chatting a bit about their lectures and different things that had happened. In the moment of silence they shared while focusing on eating, the TV by them was playing the news. Usually they ignored it since there was barely anything interesting besides the weather, but someone turned up the volume as a breaking news announcement was being shared.

 _"...last night, another member of the_ Tanaka _family has been reported missing. This is the second member this month who has been reported, and no leads whatsoever. There seems to be a relation with the previous case, however police have not been able to confirm exact details. Along with another_ Tanaka _family member missing, a series of murders were committed last night, a total of 3 confirmed and 2 still unidentified. All bodies found were confirmed_ not _to be those of the_ Tanaka _family. Forensics are now on the case..."_

Yamaguchi watched the report with much interest while Tsukishima continued eating with a straight face. Of course he was nervous right now. Not because the police were on the Tanaka case stronger, or that murders were happening, no, he couldn't care less - the fact that Yamaguchi heard this news and was clearly shaken up by it...

"What? You think you're next?" Tsukishima asked teasingly, catching Yamaguchi's attention who was now turning a little pink. He shook his head a bit, looking down at his food and picking at the rice.

"No..." Yamaguchi mumbled, Tsukishima regretting teasing him because he was obviously worried about the crimes going on. Before he could comfort him though, Yamaguchi spoke first.

"I'm worried about you."

Tsukishima's eyes widened and his heartbeat went wild. Not the cute, fluttering beating either - the _oh shit_ kind of beating because there was no way Yamaguchi could know right now, there was no way! It was impossible, Tsukishima wasn't that suspicious lately, was he?

"You go to work late and walk home most of the time."

An uncontrolled sigh of relief escaped Tsukishima's mouth, making Yamaguchi flinch but then relax a bit. "I know, you can protect yourself, right?" Yamaguchi chuckled, scratching the back of his head and continued eating quickly. "I mean, you're protecting me most of the time. I just think, you know, sometimes it would be nice for me to protect you too, you know?"

Yamaguchi carried on the rest of lunch normally, but Tsukishima was restless. He couldn't look at Yamaguchi in the eyes for a good few hours and was relieved when they separated once Yamaguchi had to leave for his evening lecture.   
Tsukishima couldn't stand this stupid feeling of hesitation and uneasiness. He was usually decisive and was able to find solutions to problems without difficulty. 

It made the need for Yamaguchi to be safe much stronger. Only Yamaguchi could make him feel this way, and there was no way in hell he would throw that away.

At that time, Tsukishima was getting a call. Seeing who it was, Tsukishima picked up. "Hey, Noya."

"Tsukishima, I got more on that Asami guy. Are we having a meeting tonight?" Tsukishima pushed the glasses up on his face and looked forward. 

_'For Yamaguchi...just a little longer.'_

"Yes. 9 PM at the third warehouse. Be prepared to stay all night."


	3. Fukurodani

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Missions and proposals - a lot of information and action is about to go down.

"I'm telling you, Tsuki. He's perfect!" Nishinoya went on with his tangent that Tsukishima wasn't paying attention to. "Tall, buff, intimidating. I'm sure he would just love to join Karasuno-hey, Tsukishima. 4-Eyes, are you listening?"

Tsukishima snapped out of his trance and finally looked at Nishinoya with a confused expression. Both of them were in Tsukishima's office right now, only waiting for Kageyama to join them so they could get their meeting started.  
The small male sighed softly and shook his head in disappointment. "Not even listening. I'm doing this for _you_ , don't you know?" Tsukishima gave him a more confused look, shaking his head.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" Nishinoya's wide smile returned on his face, ready to continue bragging.

"I found someone to recruit! An aggressive looking one, but when I talked to him it seemed he didn't even know he looked like that." Nishinoya giggled as he remembered their interaction, the way he was flustered when Nishinoya asked for his number and the fumbling he did with his phone as he gave it to him. Adorable.

"Oh, yeah. Well, did you get his name? I'll look into it." Tsukishima told him, not minding adding a few more people to his squad. As long as they got talent and knew what they were sacrificing when they joined, then there was no problem.

"Asahi! Asahi-san. He insisted I called him by his first name," Nishinoya giggled to himself. 

Tsukishima's eyebrows furrowed as he heard the name, cocking his head and thinking of where he's heard it before. When he finally remembered, his eyebrows furrowing more, looking straight at Nishinoya.

"Asahi....Azumane Asahi?"  
"That's the one!" Nishinoya said proudly, holding his chin with his hand and wearing a cocky expression. "So the great 4-Eyes was watching him too, hm? I knew my skills weren't limited to taking photos. I have a good sense of people too!"

Tsukishima bit the inside of his cheek and let out a quiet sigh. "Azumane...As in 'Azumane Bloom?""Yeah, yeah, exactly-" Nishinoya stopped, putting his hands down and looking at Tsukishima with a dumb expression.  
"What?"

Tsukishima let out another groan, shaking his head some more as he looked down at his desk. "Azumane Bloom." He said again. "The flower shop by our old high school." Tsukishima finally looked up at Nishinoya with a blank expression, but Nishinoya could tell he was irritated.

"Asahi-san is a fucking florist, you fucking dimwit."

Nishinoya froze, his mouth wide open in shock, not believing it. Someone like Asahi? No way! He was big and scary looking - hot too, but Nishinoya wanted to fuck him not fuck with him.

"Do-Don't joke like that!" Nishinoya laughed nervously, but Tsukishima's expression didn't change. Rather, it got even more annoyed looking that Nishinoya had no other choice but to take him seriously.

"Where did you meet Asahi-san again?" Tsukishima asked skeptically, making Nishinoya a little more confident.  
"Ah, well, I went to the club last night! He must've gotten stood up because he was just sitting there with a huge bouquet of roses! So I went up to him and chatted a bit, and his expressions were so different from what I was expecting. So cute..." Nishinoya gushed, making Tsukishima's annoyed expression turn into one of disgust.  
"Anyway! I talked to him for a bit, got his number. I'm gonna ask him out to dinner. It's about time I find love in the mafia." His hands cupped his face with a longing gaze, Tsukishima resisting with all of his might _not_ to smack him hard across the mouth.

"And...this bouquet of roses. Where'd it go?" Tsukishima asked slowly to reach Nishinoya's IQ level.  
"Hm? Oh, well, when I went to buy him a drink they just disappeared," Nishinoya answered casually. "He probably threw them out. You wouldn't give your new date flowers from your old date!"

It was too much work to address Nishinoya's stupidity that Tsukishima didn't say anything after that until Kageyama came. He just sat there, slowly turning red from suppressing himself. 

"Sorry I'm late," Kageyama exclaimed as he burst into Tsukishima's office with plastic bag. "Hinata made us snacks."

Now they were munching on some pork onigiri, taking a few minutes of silence before the real work began. Nishinoya though, wasn't the exact master of silence.

"Kageyama," Nishinoya called out, his mouth stuffed with rice. "You know Asahi-san?""Azumane Asahi? You mean the florist?"

Nishinoya let out a loud groan when he realized Tsukishima wasn't joking around and actually knew what he was saying when he called Asahi a florist. A small smirk briefly spread on the leader's face, but you couldn't see it as he chewed.  
"No way! I was sure he would be a great member!""What're you talking about?" Kageyama asked, obviously not knowing about their earlier conversation. When Nishinoya explained everything, Kageyama was already banging the table, laughing.

"You fucking dumbass!" Kageyama laughed loudly, pointing at Nishinoya obnoxiously. "You fucking thought-!" Another fit of cackles escaped him as he held his stomach, Nishinoya not enjoying the amusement Kageyama was getting out of this. "You fucking thought a _florist_ would be a good addition! Hah!!"

Tsukishima was also having mixed feelings with Nishinoya's close call, almost revealing their identity to a person who probably wouldn't be that skilled in this industry. "I swear to god," Tsukishima sighed, not looking up at them. "The only reason you're still in this fucking mafia is because no one is dumb enough to have your job."

Which was true - Nishinoya had the most dangerous job, yet it seemed so small. Following people and taking their photos didn't seem all that hard - that was, until you got caught. There was no way to run and it was the easiest position to throw under the bus. Yet, though Tsukishima never said it out loud, Nishinoya has proven talent in this sector. It's been almost 4 years and he hasn't gotten caught, does a flawless job, and manages to put up with Tsukishima's stubborn, rude personality.

Nishinoya kissed his teeth as he listened to the annoying laughter, turning a little pink too with embarrassment. 

"Yeah, well, you know what! You work at a fucking coffee shop as a _barista_. So obviously you never know who's in this business."  
"But not _Asahi-san_. That florist gets flustered when high school girls keep visiting his shop. His hands shake when he holds a bouquet - I can't imagine much more with a gun!"  
"How was I supposed to know?! Stop laughing!"  
"I can't help it! You're so fucking stupid!"

Tsukishima hit the table with his fist, getting both their attention. 

"Enough playing," he demanded, looking at the two over his glasses before pushing them up. "No more nonsense. We have work to do."

Nishinoya started with what he found, showing the photos he took from earlier that day when Kageyama gave him the assignment. There were several of Asami Muzuru himself, and then other people Tsukishima was expecting Nishinoya to explain.

"Asami Muzuru was Tanaka Shu's boss, yeah? But I have a feeling that it's much more than that."  
"Well, we can't really trust your feelings all that much now, can we?" Kageyama commented, but he chose to ignore and kept going on with his report.  
"Asami is the CEO of a huge gun manufacturing corporation," Nishinoya showed the photo of Asami walking into a tall building with 3 men guarding him. The top of the building said 'MUZURU CORP' in big letters.  
"There's a branch here, but their main building is in Tokyo."  
Nishinoya then placed a photo of the central office, an even taller building that was connected to a factory, which you could guess was where the guns were made.  
"I followed him all the way to Tokyo today. They're having a meeting tonight, I just don't know what time. For all I know, the meeting's done."

Tsukishima nodded slowly as he looked at the photos, inspecting them. Asami didn't have any connections yet except being the last person Shu had talked to before Tsukishima killed him. Which was enough for the mafia leader to have his eyes all over him.

"You went all the way to Tokyo?" Kageyama asked in surprise. "You made that commute?"   
Nishinoya shrugged and nodded. "Well, yeah. He was leaving.""When did you get back?""Like, an hour ago, I guess? It doesn't matter - Asami isn't a lead yet, right?"

Tsukishima's eyebrows were furrowed as he looked at the man in the picture more, then shook his head. He's made up his mind about his observation.   
"A CEO takes his time very seriously," Tsukishima pointed out, standing up, which signaled the two that they were going to head out as well. "There's no way he used over 5 of his precious hours for nothing. Nishinoya, can you call Tanaka?"   
Nishinoya nodded, already taking out his phone, knowing what was going to happen. Tokyo was over a 5 hour travel, and right now it was barely 11 PM. It didn't matter though, because Tsukishima had a plan, meaning everyone was going to follow through.

"Oi, Tanaka! C'mon, we're going on a mission."

They were at Tokyo by 3 AM, Tanaka's driving never failing to cut down on the commute time. They found the building in no time, and to no one's surprise, the building lights were off except for the main floors. Everything seemed to be locked, even from a distance they could tell. The factory was still producing smoke, so that meant there was something on there too, and that meant there was probably someone there as well, monitoring mechanics. 

"Alright," Tsukishima gathered them around, all of them having changed into different clothes, specifically for missions.   
It was an all black suit, sleek and light for their comfort and convenience. They had a black mask on that covered everything except their eyes, so everything was covered except for that small hole where they could see out of.   
That, and an orange stripe each other them had around their right ankle. Literally every other criminal always wore all black, so to identify themselves they added the orange stripe to their uniform - to tell who was safe to kill and who to trust.   
Tsukishima also had, instead of his glasses, a pair of goggles. A black band all the way, but the frame of them were an orange that matched the stripe on his ankle. Kageyama has told him that contacts would make things much easier, but Tsukishima insisted that he liked these better - they made a statement and made sure anyone who saw him in this uniform would know exactly who he was. 

"Everyone good? Earpiece working?" All of them had an earpiece gadget to communicate with each other during the mission. They could all hear each other the whole time, so it was also a good way to make sure everyone was okay.

"Alright, let's do a check." Tsukishima turned his earpiece on, followed by everyone else.

"4-Eyes to King."  
"Go for King. King to Thunder."  
"Go for Thunder. Thunder to Dragon."  
"Go for Dragon. Dragon to 4-Eyes."

Tsukishima showed a small smirk and nodded. "Perfect."

Everyone got in using their own ways, needing to do their parts of the mission in different locations.   
Nishinoya, being the smallest, made his way through a ventilation shaft, wiggling his way to the center of the building.   
Kageyama climbed up the walls and crept through windows, trying to find an HR department or office.  
Tanaka got through by picking the locks, looking for the security systems (which wasn't too difficult) but then having to retrieve every file Tsukishima requested.  
Tsukishima went through the sunroof, hooking a cord down on the outside and sliding inside, landing quietly on his feet before he started his part, finding out where the meeting was.

"Dragon to 4-Eyes," Tanaka said, getting Tsukishima's attention as the leader was trying to pick his way into different rooms. "Go for 4-Eyes."  
"Everything they have here is only up to 2018. They refresh and delete their files every 2 years.""Well, try harder then." Tsukishima demanded, not believing there was no way to retrieve everything, of all the history of the place. Not when it was digital.  
"Anything electronic is never gone forever. I know you can do it."

Tsukishima heard voices from another room, then a light went on that he could see from under the crack of the door. In the room he was in, he looked around and found a storage closet that he quickly climbed, breaking one of the ceiling squares quickly and jumping into it before closing it shut again. It was a really tight space, but he managed and wiggled his way to one of the vents in the room so he could keep watch and breath. It was times like these he wished that he had Nishinoya's body.

Like he expected, the two men talking came into the room, still discussing whatever it was they started talking about outside.

"...and I told him that we need another man. But it wasn't worth anything - he won't listen to shit!"

Tsukishima recognized him. He wasn't Asami, but he was from the photos that Nishinoya took earlier that day, one of the men guarding - rather, accompanying - Asami as he entered this very building. Tsukishima watched as they went onto one of the computers.

"Yeah, well, the police have been worked up. I don't know why he's so affected though - he's not even close to a suspect!"  
"But before we know it, we'll be targeted too. I get it, he's stressed. Doesn't mean he has to have a stick up his ass."

 _'Asami?'_ Tsukishima thought, _'That means he_ is _here.'_

"I can't believe he killed him though. I mean, he couldn't have, right? He's the fucking heir!"

Tsukishima stilled, his eyes narrowing. _'What are you talking about...'_

The two men were finished with their business though and turned the computer off, leaving the room as well. Tsukishima waited a few minutes before he opened the vent he was in and slid out, jumping onto the ground quietly, then went to the computer. He saw the password being typed earlier, so he knew already, making it easy to break in.

"Dragon to King."  
"Go for King."  
"Do you think you can also check for history files in paper? I can only get as far as 2004. It really isn't budging, but with this date I don't doubt that they have some physical copies."  
"Copy."

Tsukishima continued to tamper with the computer, trying to find different files with meaning, but there was nothing. Everything was blank.  
 _'Then what was that bastard's business on here?'_

With a frustrated sigh, Tsukishima turned the computer off and continued to a different room, trying to find his goal which was the meeting. But if those two men were walking around, that meant that the meeting was over, right?

"Woah.." Tsukishima could hear Tanaka through the earpiece. "They have strippers here too."  
"Strippers?!" Suddenly Nishinoya was talking too. "Not fair! I wanna see!"  
"Aren't you pining that florist?" Kageyama chimed in, which made Nishinoya whine softly.  
"What florist? Oi, what florist?"  
"Nothing! You're right, King, I am a loyal man and will not ogle random strangers anymore. Thank you for pointing out my flaws, you know how I love that about you."  
"No problem."

Tsukishima sighed but left them alone. Considering it was 4 AM, they deserved to have a little side tracked conversation. However, Tsukishima was still focused on his part of the mission.

"Thunder to 4-Eyes."  
"Go for 4-Eyes."  
"I found the meeting. You can head to the factory."  
"Copy."

The plan was if someone found the meeting before Tsukishima, Tsukishima would take the responsibility of the factory and investigate there. So the leader kept his word, running back to the rope he came in with and climbed up it, closing the sunroof and running across to the factory.   
He did a long jump from the building's roof to the factory's, soaring through the sky - almost like he was flying.

"1 hour, guys." Tsukishima reminded them of their time limit. Obviously they couldn't stay there forever. "Missions done in 1 hour. Don't mess up."

"Copy."  
"Copy."  
"Copy, boss."

1 hour was faster than any of them remembered because next thing they knew, 5 AM rolled around.  
Nishinoya was crawling backwards through the vents, being as quiet as possible. Since he witnessed the meeting, he knew that there were still security in the building, but Asami left hours ago.  
Kageyama copied, took photos of and stole files, making sure to make the room look untouched.  
Tanaka finished downloading and took his USBs, exiting with the doors, making sure to lock them again before sprinting back to the car.  
Tsukishima was done in the factory as well, leaving through a window and getting back to the car in a jog, all of them back by 5 AM too.

"Well?"  
"I'm staying." Nishinoya declared, shocking all 3 of them. It did make sense though, since he heard the most information out of all 4 of them so far.

"What did you hear?" Tsukishima asked, but Nishinoya shook his head. "It's nothing big yet, I don't even know much. But I have a hunch and I want to follow through."

No one made a comment, leaving Nishinoya to his work since he looked serious and promised to report properly once he had confirmation. Tsukishima respected his wishes, letting Nishinoya stay and the 3 of them head back to their town. Kageyama drove this time because apparently even Tanaka's energy can be drained if he was strained enough.

"Fukurodani."

It was lunchtime on Sunday, the day after they got home and not too long after they got home from their mission. They all crashed once going back home, none of them waking until right into the night of Saturday, then they agreed to meet up to discuss what they learned from Friday night/Saturday morning. Except Nishinoya, who they didn't expect to see until tonight, but here he was, back with more files in hand.

"Did you sleep, Noya?" Tanaka asked concerned, Nishinoya nodding reassuringly. "I slept on the bus back. But this," he motioned to the files. "This is what I wanted to confirm. And I was right."

There was no pride in his tone, which made Tsukishima a little suspicious but he opened the file nonetheless. They were more photos, this time of two men - one with raven black hair, and the other who was slightly taller, with grey streaks in his hair. They looked around their age as well.

"You were followed, right?" Nishinoya started off, sitting down where they sat. Kageyama called a server and requested a menu so Nishinoya could also eat something. A whole night of working must've drained him.

"Because Karasuno was their target, and you're the leader. Well, Fukurodani is the next target. And between these two is their leader."

Tsukishima looked through the photos. Both were dressed nicely, and it was clear Nishinoya followed them the whole night. They walked into a restaurant the next photo, then the next they sat down at a table. The next photo showed them just talking, then the next the raven haired stood up, taking the other's hand. In the next photo it showed the raven haired man getting down on one knee, the next photo of him pulling something out of his pocket, then the next photo of him presenting a ring in a box to the other man. Tsukishima's eyes widened.

"You stalked them while they were proposing?!"  
"It wasn't _intentional_."

It was clear that Nishinoya also felt weird about taking pictures at such an intimate and personal moment, but Tsukishima was a little happy for the work. At least he knew their relationship.  
During the time Tsukishima was examining the photos, Nishinoya ordered and Tanaka and Kageyama were also looking at the pictures, Kageyama much more intently than Tanaka and even Tsukishima.

"Fukurodani..." Tsukishima mumbled. If Karasuno was the first, that meant they were the second to Karasuno - meaning they were pretty good. Tsukishima hasn't heard of them though, so either they were that sleuthful or they weren't as good as Asami was thinking to target them next.

"And they're the only two members you know?" Tsukishima asked.  
"Well," Nishinoya started, then gulped down a whole glass of orange juice that the server brought for him. Maybe he was more famished than he let on. "That's sort of what they're known for. They have so many members that go in and out of different mafias that no one knows exactly who is _in_ their mafia except these two." He went on explaining, then pointing to the male with grey streaks in his hair. "It could be him who's the real leader though. Everything is under him and he's the one who navigates the attacks. Even personality wise, it just seemed like his boyfriend, or I guess fiancé now, just followed him around and did everything he said. That's my observation."

Tsukishima nodded as he looked at the two again. The leader and the right hand man were this close? That meant they had a bond that no one else could understand and were strong in their own way. Tsukishima could sort of picture it in a way, but saw it as a weakness as well if he was correct in his assumption that these two cared more about feelings than structure. If something happened to the other, they would go mental and do anything - scary, but careless.

"Bokuto." Kageyama finally said as he put down the photo after inspection. "Bokuto Koutarou. He's Hinata's friend."

Nishinoya gaped at Kageyama then looked over at Tsukishima to see his reaction. The leader just had a blank expression, his eyes narrowing at Kageyama. "A friend?"

Kageyama nodded, looking at the photo again and pointing at the man with grey streaks in his hair, the one getting proposed to. "He came here and worked with Hinata for 6 months. Then left back to Tokyo to finish school." Kageyama told Tsukishima, letting him know everything he knew from Hinata. "He's had a few drinks from Hinata and managed to bring him home drunk a few times. Bokuto-san is a prideful, energetic man that I'm sure wouldn't hesitate to play dirty. He studies architecture and coaches part time to high school students."

Nishinoya looked at Kageyama with amazement, still gaping at him. "Woah...you do background checks on all of Hinata's friends?"  
Kageyama scowled at him, but kept a serious tone. "Yes. In case they end up being the leader of a fucking mafia."

Tsukishima looked at the photos some more to see if there were any clues as to their intention behind the proposal besides just wanting to be married. But as it looked at first sight, the two just looked like they were having a good time together.

"So what, Hinata just coincidentally became friends with a mafia leader?" Tanaka asked, confused by the whole thing and how the connections were coming together. Tsukishima just shook his head.

"No," he said in a soft voice, then looked up at the 3 of them. "If Fukurodani is as good as they're saying, then they're like us. Every connection they make has a purpose." Tsukishima looked at the photo of Bokuto, crying as his boyfriend was on one knee, taking the ring out.

"That means-""He was after Kageyama." Tsukishima finished off Tanaka's thought, confirming what everyone was thinking. "They're not that bad at what they do then."

"What do you mean? They didn't even get the leader then! If Bokuto-san wanted to do some damage, he would've gotten all buddy-buddy with Yamaguchi." Nishinoya pointed out, but Tsukishima shook his head again, understanding the point of their intentions more and more.

"No. Even if it wasn't obvious, the risk of being caught stopped them from targeting me. So they went for Kageyama, someone who could do damage, but it wouldn't be too suspicious that his outgoing, talkative boyfriend made a new friend." 

Kageyama nodded his head slowly, also knowing where this was going. "They didn't think they would get caught. Because they have people going in and out of their mafia all the time, they make their connections before even confronting them," Kageyama continued on. "They thought they wouldn't need us, but took a precaution. They don't know we know yet."

Tsukishima pushed his glasses up, tilting his head at Kageyama. "Is Hinata still talking to Bokuto-san?"  
Kageyama had to think about it for a bit then nodded. "I'm pretty sure they're still on texting terms."

With a slight nod, Tsukishima put away the photos back into the file, knowing what he had to do now in order to have the upper hand. They needed to get to Fukurodani before MUZURU CORP did.

"They just got engaged, didn't they?" Tsukishima smirked softly, looking out the window of the restaurant, like he was searching for something or someone. "Shouldn't we throw them a customary engagement party? Miyagi style." 


	4. Browser History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yamaguchi wants to have a date night with Tsukishima. The mafia leader doesn't mind, but ends up stumbling into even more insecurities and worries - as if he needed more of those.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Focuses more on the relationship here.  
> WARNING : SMUT in this chapter.

_From : Boyfriend  
I'm gonna have lunch with Hinata today so we can talk about our essays _

_From : Boyfriend  
Should we have a date night tonight?_

_To : Boyfriend  
Alright, I'll have lunch with the guys. And yeah, sounds good. Your place?_

_From : Boyfriend  
Sure! I might be home at aorund 6 PM though :( Ukai-san needs extra help with tutoring tonight_

_To : Boyfriend  
No problem, I'll just wait for you._

_From : Boyfriend  
Yay~~!!! _

_From : Boyfriend  
Going to my lecture now_

_From : Boyfriend  
Love you ^3^_

_To : Boyfriend  
<3_

Tsukishima put away his phone when Takeda came into the room to start the lecture. The beginning of the week was hectic in terms of what was going on with him and the mafia, but Tsukishima also couldn't afford to slack in school and have Yamaguchi suspicious of low grades. Grades to Tsukishima was "everything" - he sort of regretted saying that at the beginning of university when he meant it.

The lecture ended quickly though, or at least quicker than Tsukishima felt was the usual. After a whole weekend of missions, research and not sleeping, he was expecting to be a little more grouchy and irritable. But for some reason, he felt fine.

"Thank you for the lecture today, Takeda-sensei." Tsukishima again was the last student out, his things packed and ready to go to lunch with the usual 3 people. As he was leaving though, his body came in contact with another, lightly bumping into another individual who was a bit bigger than Tsukishima.

"Excuse me, I didn't see-" His eyebrows raised when he saw who he bumped into, chuckling a bit. "Oh, it's just you."

Ukai's eyebrows furrowed when Tsukishima addressed him that way, scowling at him slightly though he didn't really take it to heart. The older man was carrying a bag of food, probably for his little lunch date with Takeda right now, which Tsukishima could only guess was really the only time they could be at school together.

"Tsukishima," Ukai greeted, relaxing a bit when Tsukishima finally bowed in greeting. "Not up to any trouble, I hope."

Tsukishima just laughed, not responding properly since they both knew the real answer. "There's a reason no crime happens on your street, Ukai-san," Tsukishima pointed out, raising an eyebrow at the teacher.

"Don't worry. You don't have to thank me until I get arrested."

The blond teacher raised his eyebrows this time, a bit surprised at the words, but then quickly went back to glaring at the student. Up to this day, Ukai had no idea if the decision he made to keep hush-hush about this was the right one. His soft spot for these boys got the better of him, he supposed. Plus, Tsukishima promised if one day he did get caught, he wouldn't drag Ukai or Takeda down as accomplices.

"Good. I hate saying 'thank you'."

Tsukishima gave Ukai a small smile and bowed once more. Their exchange was an odd one, and Tsukishima learned a lot from his mistake back then. So in a way, this was his way of paying a debt and shouldn't be thought about too much on his behalf.

As Tsukishima entered the cafeteria the sound of Nishinoya's voice was more than enough to locate where the 3 of them were. Then Tanaka yelled and Tsukishima was wondering if sitting with them was worth it.

After getting his tray of food, Tsukishima made the unsure decision to go to the table the rest of them were at, clearly walking in while a heated conversation was happening, all 3 of them participating.

"-and he said he was going to take _me_ out. Isn't that a good sign? I mean, that means he likes me too, right?"  
"But you just said a second ago that you're sure he's straight."  
"Straight, confused - same thing. If my ass doesn't make him gay then he's a lost cause."  
"So you want him for sex?"  
"Excuse me, no. That's a ho's rule, and I'm not a ho! I am a perverted lover - very different."

Tsukishima inwardly groaned as he sat down, the 3 of them turning to greet him briefly before they continued their conversation.

"All I'm saying is that Asahi-san has no idea what he's missing! That's why he's so awkward - women have messed him up!"  
"That is _not_ how you should be seeing things."

Tsukishima listened closely to the conversation, knowing exactly what they were talking about, quietly curious as well as to where Nishinoya was with his little crush on the town's florist, Azumane Asahi.

"I thought you were upset I told you you can't recruit him to be apart of our mafia," Tsukishima chimed in. "What happened?"  
"I have realized that him not being apart of Karasuno is perfectly fine!" Nishinoya replied with a bright, overly-excited smile on his face. "This means I can use 110% of my energy making him mine instead of 90%."  
"What would've happened to the extra 10-20%?"  
"Making sure he could put up with 4-Eyes."

Tsukishima scowled at that, picking at his food more before scarfing it down. Tanaka was laughing beside him, shaking his head. "Let's have a bet then, hm?" The bald member said with an intrigued tone. "By the end of the semester - no way you can pin him, Noya-chan. I bet my whole head."

"Bet!" Nishinoya had to take his phone out to check his calendar. If it was the beginning of July now, then he had about 3-4 weeks. The sudden realization that he had to turn an innocent bean into his in a matter of a few weeks made him whine in protest and shake his head. 

"Wait, wait, I take it back. Until examination results come out. How's that?" Tanaka was thinking it over intensely, looking at the calendar as well to see if that was fair enough. That gave Nishinoya 2 more weeks.

"Done."

So they made the bet. If Nishinoya won then Tanaka had to do his assignments for 1 whole semester (Kageyama tried asking if that was a good idea, but Tsukishima explained how their IQ was basically the same so it didn't matter). And if Tanaka won...

Nishinoya agreed to shave all of his hair off - blond streak and all.

"I really don't think this is a good idea, Noya." Kageyama said with a slightly concerned expression, mainly because he knew if Nishinoya did lose then Hinata will be his source of comfort - anything Hinata was involved in, by default so was Kageyama.

"I have the seduction skills of Aphro-Aphro-uh, doesn't matter! I'm gonna get into Asahi-san's pants by the end of the summer and no one is gonna stop me!"

Tsukishima rolled his eyes as the 3 of them began to debate how Nishinoya was going about this and who actually had the advantage in this. Kageyama was trying to convince Nishinoya to back down, but Tanaka was already yelling at both of them, saying a deal was a deal. 

_'If we were normal, would everyday be something like this?'_

"Tsukishima, what do you think?" Nishinoya asked, snapping Tsukishima out of his thoughts. The blond hummed, thinking it over, assuming that that he was asking about who he thought was going to win.

"I'm with Tanaka," Tsukishima answered, making both Nishinoya and Kageyama's jaw drop. The bald member screamed in triumph, pointing an obnoxious finger at them. 

"SUCK IT, BASTARDS! THE GREAT LEADER HIMSELF IS ON MY SIDE! I'LL HAVE A BALD BUDDY BY THE END OF THE SUMMER!"

"Hey, what nonsense are you spitting?" Kageyama asked harshly, as if Tsukishima personally offended him. "You think Nishinoya can't do it? He's literally fucked half the campus.""Hey, I'm right here. No slut shaming in this friend group."

Tsukishima shrugged, picking at his food some more. "I'm just thinking of it logically," Tsukishima said with an indifferent tone. "Not even factoring gender, Nishinoya's personality and Asahi-san's personality are totally different. Asahi-san will be intimidated by his boldness and run away out of nervousness. Then you add the whole issue of gender - I won't lie, he's good looking. If he hasn't had a girlfriend until now, what makes you think he wants a boyfriend. When I do the math, the answer is the same, no matter how many factors I add or subtract."

Kageyama groaned loudly, banging his head on the table. He could already hear the sobs of Nishinoya once he was bald.

"That's right! What 4-Eyes here said." Tanaka was puffing his chest out, proud that the smart leader of theirs was on his side for a change, not yelling at him and telling him that his IQ was the same number as his age.

The 3 of them continued discussing, what was fair and what was already said. Kageyama was trying to explain to Nishinoya that he couldn't just barge into the flower shop every day and expect Asahi to feel comfortable - the message wasn't recieved. Tsukishima occasionally mentioned different reasons as to why Asahi just wouldn't like Nishinoya because Nishinoya was Nishinoya, and Tanaka boldly agreed.

As they talked, a few people at a table nearby was talking too. The 4 of them didn't care that much until one of them went to the TV and turned the volume up on the news, MUZURU CORP being filmed as the news anchor reported another breaking news announcment.  
Now it had their attention.

_"-broken into this morning. Officials say that several personal , professional and sensitive documents have been stolen, including employee files, launch plans of the company and security footage. All cameras were turned off during this heist, leading the police to believe that the people responsible clearly knew what they were doing and are experienced criminals. In addition, there were in fact no traces of this crime nor any evidence that anyone was there that night besides the MUZURU CORP employees, who are now under investigation as suspects. Fingerprints and DNA traces were searched for multiple times, but it seems that 'at this rate, a ghost was the one who stole everything', commented by the primary detective on the case, Daichi Sawamura. The only thing found was a carving of a lightening bolt in the vents-"_

"Noya..."  
"Nice, Noya-chan!"  
"Nishinoya, I swear to fucking god-"

Night came quickly, and like Tsukishima and Yamaguchi agreed, Tsukishima was waiting for Yamaguchi at his place so they could have a nice date together after a weekend of not seeing each other. 

Yamaguchi's place was simple - a one bedroom, one bath, a kitchen/dining area and a small place in the middle that one could only assume be the living room. It was small, but for a university student, it was everything. Since Tsukishima couldn't tell him that he was practically drowning in bills, so all the secret mafia member could do was slip in little things every so often to make the experience a little more bearable. The occasional surprise gift, slipping a few extra bills into Yamaguchi's clothes, and sometimes helping with the rent without letting Yamaguchi know. 

Tsukishima made himself at home easily, flopping on Yamaguchi's bed and scrolling through his phone, going over documents, wanting to try and decipher their next move. But until they had a connection with Fukurodani, there wasn't much they could do that would be worth anything. So he handed out the little heists, like selling and exporting goods.

He did notice though, Yamaguchi's laptop open on his desk, an essay on display. It must've been the essay him and Hinata were working on during lunch, since there was lot of work done. Out of curiosity, Tsukishima went to the laptop, just wanting to see what it was about and how Yamaguchi was doing.

Tsukishima knew Yamaguchi wasn't too sure what he wanted to do, so for now he was studying electronic functions and manufacturing. Though, last minute and not knowing what he actually wanted to do, Yamaguchi took journalism, so essays and thesis assignments were apart of his assessments as well.

_What Is Love_

The title read, making Tsukishima snicker to himself. "What a cliche topic..." he said to himself as he read Yamaguchi's take on the subject.

 _The question of_ what _love is already leading to an erroneous and bias statement. Love is subjective, therefore questioning_ what _love is will result into an infinite amount of conclusions, all of which are objectively correct. Rather, the question of_ how _we love will put into perspective the actual meaning love is attached with. When the process of_ how _to love is deciphered, the answer to_ what _love is becomes obvious yet irrelevant._

Tsukishima smiled softly to himself, scrolling to see Yamaguchi had over 5 pages of his essay so far. It seemed he had a lot to say about love.

The essay was the only tab open, and if Tsukishima was a normal boyfriend then the thought of checking for other things on Yamaguchi's computer wouldn't be that creepy. But Tsukishima wasn't a normal boyfriend.

It was so easy - all he had to do was click a few buttons and he could see everything Yamaguchi did. Different websites he was on, what he bought, what he posted. Tsukishima had the simplest task to do and the power to access all the information he needed to know everything about his boyfriend. Why couldn't he do it?

"He's not a target..." Tsukishima mumbled under his breath, the cursor hovering over the three dots on the corner of his screen. "He's your boyfriend. You can just asked him."

He clicked the three dots, dragging the cursor over the 'History' button. "You're not creepy," he mumbled to himself, so tempted yet resisting as much as he could. Yamaguchi was his lover, not someone he was interrogating. He didn't have to act all sneaky like this just to see what Yamaguchi was up to.

"You're not a creepy boyfriend, Kei. You're not a creep-" his finger clicked and Yamaguchi's browser history was loaded on the page.

His breath hitched, yet he didn't look away. It was weird to see what Yamaguchi did that Tsukishima didn't konw. Tsukishima felt he knew Yamaguchi fairly well after more than a year and a half of dating. It shouldn't be too surprsing.

_Today  
_ _12:30 - What Is Love - Docs  
_ _12:45 - thesaurus.com_

_Yesterday  
3:47 PM - Easy Recipes : How to make cheesecake  
2:12 PM - CuClo Ripped Jeans  
2:10 PM - CuClo Swim Trunks for Men  
_

"What did you think you were going to find?" Tsukishima scoffed to himself, shaking his head as he was about to close his tab. "Ridiculous. Kei, you really had a-"

Tsukshima stopped as he scrolled further down, going to Friday night's history - the night Tsukishima went on a mission. He gulped as he scrolled through that night, feeling a little uneasy.

_Last Week ; Friday  
10:58 PM - www.xxporxxx.com - Twink Fucked Motionless  
10:30 PM - www.xx.porxxx.com - Glasses Top Banging Boyfriend Hard on Couch  
10:04 PM - www.xx.porxxx.com - Blond Cums in Twink (close up)_

Tsukishima's face flushed as he read through the history. This was like his worst nightmare and best daydream coming true - the innocent Yamaguchi wanted sex, wanted to be dirty and masturbated when his boyfriend was away-  
However, Tsukishima did not do any of these things when they had sex. 

Tsukishima knew that Yamaguchi didn't have much experience before him, being Yamaguchi's first boyfriend and all. So most of the things Yamaguchi knew were things Tsukishima taught him.   
It seemed Yamaguchi wasn't that satisfied with his lessons.

"No," Tsukishima whispered to himself. This was so much worse than being chased by the cops. "Yamaguchi...is the one holding out?"

"Tsuki! I'm home!"

It seemed he was so into Yamaguchi's history and what he's just realized that he didn't even hear his boyfriend coming in. He closed the tab quickly, putting it back to Yamaguchi's essay, quickly getting up and heading to the front to greet him. 

"Hey." Tsukishima didn't know why he was breathless. Thoughts filled his mind at the moment, watching Yamaguchi putting down his bag and taking his shoes off. The innocent male wasn't showing any signs of horniness. How was Tsukishima supposed to know what he wanted?

"How...How was tutoring?" He ended up asking as Yamaguchi went up to him to plant a small kiss on his lips. "Pretty good. It was just English, so I didn't have that much difficulty." Yamaguchi answered, walking inside and heading straight to the kitchen.

For some reason, the memory of Kageyama and Nishinoya teasing him came to mind.

_"Oh,"_ he could hear Kageyama and Nishinoya snickering, " _don't tell me you've never had wall sex, 4-Eyes."_

Tsukishima grunted softly and looked up at the ceiling, wondering who to ask for help right now. It was so embarrassing - he couldn't admit to anyone that in their relationship it was _Yamaguchi_ holding out. Yama-fucking-guchi.

"Did you eat? I have some instant noodles...unless you want me to cook you something. I learned how to make cheesecake the other day!"

Turning and walking over to Yamaguchi, the blond's face turned red. He was flustered, clueless and a bit ashamed. He felt like he wasn't satisfying Yamaguchi enough, and that was not how he wanted to lose him. Not when he was a secret fucking mafia leader! Imagine, being dumped because of boring sex, _not_ because of your secretly horrid criminal record.

"Uhm, I was hoping," Tsukishima said awkwardly, kissing the back of Yamaguchi's neck. Usually he was good at this, making Yamaguchi blush and cutely riled up. Was he acting all this time?  
"Maybe...I could get desert first?"

Yamaguchi turned his head, his cheeks turning pink at the suggestion. Tsukishima was well past pink though - even the tips of his ears were red. "Eh?"  
Tsukishima cursed inwardly, squeezing his eyes shut. Shit, why was this so hard? It was just Yamaguchi. It's not like he cheated or anything, just watched porn that was more exciting than their sex life.

"I mean," Tsukishima held Yamaguchi's waist, pulling him closer. "Can I eat you instead?"

The shorter male sputtered, clearly flustered, but now Tsukishima didn't want to know if this was an actual reaction or he was just like this because Tsukishima was more exciting when he was like this. It made Tsukishima feel awkward now, yet he wanted to push on with it. He wanted to satisfy Yamaguchi.

"Of-Of course you can eat me!" Yamaguchi replied excitedly, leaning in to press a kiss on Tsukishima's lips. "Let's go to the bedroom?"

Tsukishima wanted to say yes so badly. Kitchen sex seemed unsanitary and uncomfortable. But bed sex seemed unexciting, and right now he was aiming for exciting. 

"No. I want you here." He managed to say, looking down at Yamaguchi, kissing his forehead. 

_'Aggressive, you dumb bitch. Exciting, not prissy and fluffy.'_ Tsukishima didn't even know what he was thinking.

"But you're not even hard," Yamaguchi pointed out, looking down at Tsukishima's crotch. "You can go to the bedroom and I can take a bath. The condoms are in the bedroom anyway-"

Before he could say anything else, Tsukishima cut him off with a hard kiss, forcing his mouth open and shoving his tongue down Yamaguchi's throat. The kiss was so forceful, Yamaguchi had to tilt his head back and strangled what sounded like a moan and a groan mixed together. His hands found their way to Tsukishima's shoulders, trying to push him back so he could breath a little, but Tsukishima didn't budge. When he finally pulled away, he whispered hotly in Yamaguchi's ear.

"I want you right here. Right now."

A shiver went down both their backs. Tsukishima couldn't tell if Yamaguchi was enjoying this, but his semi hard-on was enough of a green light for him to keep going. 

"Turn." Tsukishima demanded in a low voice, kissing down Yamaguchi's jaw, then down his neck, sucking hard on the skin which made Yamaguchi yelp in surprise. It was the first time he saw Tsukishima like this, and the tightness in his pants wasn't hiding how he was feeling. Yamaguchi was frozen though, unable to turn in this state.

"You like this, don't you?" Tsukishima said in a mocking voice, looking down at Yamaguchi's bump in the front of his pants. "You wanna ask me for something, baby?"

Yamaguchi's breath hitched, then let out a soft whine. He never had to ask for anything since Tsukishima usually did everything during sex. He always took control, but perhaps this was another way of taking control.

"Mhm. I-I want you to-to have sex with me." Yamaguchi ended up going with, making Tsukishima's expression unreadable. Yamaguchi searched for some sort of indication that what he said was okay, but all Tsukishima did was sigh.   
"Uh, please! Please...have sex with..me." He added, realizing how rude and demanding it must've sounded the way he said it before. But again, Tsukishima had an unreadable expression.

 _'I think I kind of get it now,'_ Tsukishima was thinking, in the meanwhile. _'Why people have wall sex.'_

Tsukishima held Yamaguchi's hips tighter and forced him to turn, bending him over the kitchen counter, then pulling his pants and underwear down with a swift tug. Yamaguchi's body never failed to make Tsukishima feel something each and every time, so there was something that made him lose control over and over - but never had he felt like this.

"When was the last time something was in here?" Tsukishima asked, spreading Yamaguchi's ass, revealing his tight entrance. He spit on it, making Yamaguchi flinch a bit - he was so used to regular lube.

Yamaguchi didn't answer, leading Tsukishima to believe that Yamaguchi didn't just jack off. He let out a chuckle of disbelief and distress, having very mixed feelings right now.   
"Baby..." Tsukishima took Yamaguchi's hand and began sucking 3 fingers. Yamaguchi gasped in shocked, then moaned softly as the sensation soothed him. It was soon over though, his fingers leaving Tsukishima's mouth, but he was still guiding Yamaguchi. The next thing he knew, Tsukishima pressed Yamaguchi's own fingers on his hole, forcing the middle one to go in first.

"Tsu-Tsuki!" He squealed softly, but Tsukishima ignored him. Yamaguchi didn't even stop him, letting his finger slide in. A muffled moan escaped Yamaguchi's mouth, making the blond bite the inside of his cheek hard. He was still unsure if he was turned on by this or would rather he do this to Yamaguchi.

"Tsuki..." It was a louder moan this time as his finger was inserted to the knuckle, now pumping slowly in and out of him. Tsukishima hummed, kissing Yamaguchi's ass, sucking a few marks on him as well.

"You like that, Tadashi? It's not enough though, is it?"

The use of his first name threw Yamaguchi off, squirming as his cock leaked a little more pre-cum. The sensation was so good. The embarrassment and fact it was Tsukishima watching him - Yamaguchi wanted more.

"More...more, Tsuki."

Clicking his tongue, Tsukishima put another of Yamaguchi's finger in, helping him pump them in and out. Not too long after though, he let go, watching Yamaguchi fingering himself and sort of trying to figure out if he's done this before. It seemed sloppy, Yamaguchi trying to copy the way Tsukishima does it. 

"Stretch yourself for me." Tsukishima demanded while slapping Yamaguchi's ass, making him moan and whither. Note : Not the reaction Tsukishima was expecting.

"You like when I spank you?" Tsukishima growled in his ear, kissing his jaw and licking up to his ear, biting his earlobe. Yamaguchi was still fingering himself, moaning softly, a groan of 'Tsuki' thrown in here and there. He nodded softly, closing his eyes as he took all the feelings in.

"Shit." Tsukishima didn't know what to do after this. He's just been winging it and now, and he was sure Yamaguchi was expecting more. Now he was regretting not checking all the porn he's watched up to now.

"On your knees." He demanded without thinking, and Yamaguchi obeyed without question, turning around, looking up at Tsukishima.

_'It's like he knows what to do...'_

That thought irked Tsukishima for many reasons he couldn't list right now. In a fit of emotions, he gripped Yamaguchi's jaw, forcing it open, then with his other hand gripped Yamaguchi's hair and pulled him forward, forcing his cock down his throat.   
Yamaguchi didn't do blowjobs often. No, Tsukishima never asked him to. But this was different than the 2 he's done in the past - it was needy and hot. A feeling Yamaguchi has never experienced before and now his cock was leaking more, his pre-cum getting on his floor.

"You like that, don't you? Look at the mess you're making."

Yamaguchi whined something of a protest, looking up at Tsukishima with wide eyes as he face fucked him. He couldn't get the whole thing down, but what he couldn't do he made up with his enthusiasm, forcing his throat open so Tsukishima could hit the back of it, the tightness overwhelming him and making him harder in Yamaguchi's mouth. Drool pooled out of Yamaguchi's mouth as the thrusts got more forceful, his gagging getting worse and the noises louder - but Yamaguchi didn't give up. Until Tsukishima wanted to stop, he wouldn't.

So Tsukishima kept going. He fucked Yamaguchi's face harder, groaning as he felt himself close to climaxing. He stopped himself though, forcing Yamaguchi up, turning him around and pushing him over the kitchen counter again.

"You liked that, didn't you? Taking my cock all the way down your tight, slutty throat. Bet you wanna taste my cum, don't you? I know you do. That's why you took me so well, like the good boy you are."

Yamaguchi let out a louder whine as he felt the head of Tsukishima's cock positioning itself at Yamaguchi's ass. Yamaguchi nodded frantically, pushing his ass back against Tsukishima.

"Yes..Yes, I want you. Want you to take me, pl-please Tsuki, I can't-can't take it anymore."

Tsukishima cursed softly before pushing himself inside finally, going halfway in. It was enough to make Yamaguchi squeal, his back arching at the feeling of fullness, finally.

"So-So much better than my fingers!"

Tsukishima wanted to laugh, but instead a grunt came out, pulling out a bit then slamming back in. Yamaguchi screamed at the sudden forcefulness. It usually took a while for Tsukishima to be all the way inside of Yamaguchi, but this time it took 3 thrusts before he was balls deep into Yamaguchi.

"Oh! Ah, wa-wait, Tsu-Tsuki-" Yamaguchi cried out, but Tsukishima ignored him. "Wait-Wait! Too-Too deep-Wait!"

Tsukishima pulled one leg up to spread Yamaguchi even more and get an even deeper angle in Yamaguchi, thrusting hard into him. When the movements started to become smoother, Tsukishima went faster, successfully making Yamaguchi scream.

"Ah! Fast-! Too fa-fast! Tsuki! Tsuki, Tsuki, Tsuki!! Ah, no-! Too much-It's-It's too much! I'm-I'm going-go-going crazy! Please-Oh god, please-"

Yamaguchi groaned, gripping the edge of the counter for his dear life as Tsukishima plunged into him like an animal. The counter shook and Yamaguchi's feet began to slide. It was a different feeling than sex on the bed. Tsukishima was being different and Yamaguchi couldn't help his reactions. Screaming and moaning didn't do anything, but the pleasure was too good that he couldn't take it.

Then his prostate was hit. Tsukishima knew where it was, but he's never hit it like this. Yamaguchi's never seen stars like this.

"Kei! Kei! There-Oh, no-Ah! It's too-too good! I-I can't-ca- think! Ah-I-! Too good! Kei, please! Please, please, please!"

What he was begging for, both men didn't know. Tsukishima just knew by the way Yamaguchi was tightening around him that he was close to cumming. He turned his head, wanting to see Yamaguchi's expression - it was one Tsukishima hasn't seen before, but made his cock twitch nontheless.

Yamaguchi's tongue was sticking out, panting hard as his eyes rolled upwards. Drool slowly dripped out and his eyes started watering. Tsukishima pulled him in for a kiss, Yamaguchi's moans drowning in his mouth. A few more thrusts, then Yamaguchi pulled away, screaming loudly.

"I'm cumming! Kei, Kei, Kei! I'm-I'm cumming!"

Yamaguchi's whole body spasmed multiple times, ropes of white springing from his cock and onto the kitchen counter. Tsukishima hasn't seem him like that before, especially announcing it like that.   
It took a while before Yamaguchi was limp in his arms, Tsukshima catching him and making sure he was still awake.

Tsukishima pulled out and jacked off to finish, which didn't take long, and he was cumming on Yamaguchi's back within a minute. Yamaguchi was still motionless and unresponsive until a few minutes later, turning slowly to face Tsukishima. 

"Sorry..Sorry, Yamagu-" Yamaguchi kissed Tsukishima hard, holding his face with one hand, the other hand tangling in Tsukishima's hair. It was a desperate, forceful kiss that Yamaguchi never initiated before.  
It was pretty mind blowing.

"That...was..." Yamaguchi kissed Tsukishima again, not as desperate or hot. Just a sweet, simple kiss. He giggled as he pulled away, pecking his face over and over again, on his cheek, nose, chin, forehead.

"I loved that. Were you holding that in the whole time?"

Tsukishima gave him an awkward smile, stiffening his whole body. He picked up his boyfriend up bridal style and started walking to the bathroom. He couldn't tell Yamaguchi that he had no idea what he was doing the whole time. He couldn't tell Yamaguchi that he wasn't into it until he saw how good Yamaguchi was feeling. He couldn't tell Yamaguchi it was his first time feeling like that too.

Apparently, there were more things Tsukishima was keeping a secret.

"I guess I was."


	5. 4-Eyes and his King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What it's like to be the mafia leader's right hand man, and how much Tsukishima really does trust him.

"Give me all of your sex toys. Now."

Tsukishima and Kageyama agreed to give each other copies of their keys to their places a long time ago, and agreed that it was for emergencies uses only. Apparently, this counted as an emergency.

"What-" Hinata didn't have much time to say anything as a very worked up Tsukishima began to rummage through the apartment, not giving Hinata an opportunity to react or take anything in. 

It wasn't until Tsukishima went into the bedroom that Hinata snapped out of his confusion and started attacking him back.

"Get the fuck out of my house!" He exclaimed, running after Tsukishima, finding the intruder fishing for things in their bedside drawers. Hinata, now red in the face and neck, started screaming at him.

"You can't just trespass like this! Get out of there, and quit-Hey! I bought that with my last paycheque! Put that back!"

Hinata attempted to attack Tsukishima physically, but was met with an effortless smack on the hand, which stung way more than it should of. So Hinata resorted to the better option.

"Kageyama!!" Hinata banged on the bathroom door, his boyfriend currently taking a bath and not knowing what was happening outside. Or maybe he did, but chose to let Hinata handle it until he broke. Obviously it didn't take much for Hinata to come running to Kageyama.

"Kage-boke! Come out! Come out now!!"

He could hear the water that was running stop, then a few steps were taken before finally Kageyama opened the door, only a towel wrapping around his waste.

"What's wrong-" Tsukishima was holding a bunch of dildos, vibrators and a pair of handcuffs in his hands, looking up at the couple angrily. "What?" Tsukishima snapped at them. "I'll give them back."

It took a while for Kageyama to register what was actually happening before he reacted, angrily screaming at Tsukishima now, while Hinata backed him up from behind him.

"That's disgusting! Do you know unsanitary that is, sharing those things?!"  
"Unsanitary!"  
"We've used all that stuff! It's been up Hinata's _ass_."  
" _My_ ass!"  
"And it's expensive as shit! We have to save up to buy new ones!"  
"We're not rich!"

Tsukishima glared at them, not putting them back, but he wasn't running either. He knew how absurd this looked and how the argument of this would be weird. But for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to go to a sex toy store and expect to survive long enough to buy something.

"You don't get it," he gritted his teeth. "Yamaguchi...he's holding out."

There was a moment to process what Tsukishima just said, then another moment looking at each other to figure out what their reaction would be, then finally they looked back at Tsukishima and began to laugh.   
Hard.

"Yama-Yamaguchi is the one...is the one holding out?!" Kageyama managed to barely ask between his pants of laughter.  
"Hah! Must not be that great downstairs-" Hinata was holding his stomach as the laughter increased, panting for breaths and maybe even a single tear slipping.

Pissed off and eye twitching, Tsukishima threw the sex toys on the ground and huffed, knowing he looked stupid and maybe even silly, but now he didn't know what to do, but he also didn't know who to go to. Kageyama was the only one Tsukishima could come to like this without too many consequences, and the embarrassment wouldn't be as bad, even though right now he felt like he could die.

Once the laughter silenced a bit, Hinata and Kageyama calmed down, wiping their tears then looked up at Tsukishima.

"Clean this up before you leave."

It was only a few days after Tsukishima found out Yamaguchi had a secret kinky side - kinky? Maybe just a 'please, no more missionary' side - and Tsukishima realized there was more 1 problem in their relationship. If Yamaguchi wasn't satisfied with sex this whole time, Tsukishima didn't want to disappoint him anymore with the lack of honesty he was offering their relationship.   
He had come to the conclusion that Yamaguchi wasn't going to initiate anything if Tsukishima didn't show any interest, and Tsukishima can confidently say that he did in fact not show any interest at all, whatsoever.

"Don't come barging into our apartment, ever again, alright?" Hinata said in a threatening voice as Tsukishima was about to leave, which Tsukishima didn't react to since he really couldn't care less what the consequence would be. He could probably take anything.

"Wait," Kageyama all of a sudden interjected, coming out of the bedroom, now with proper clothes on. "We should talk now, then. You're here anyway."

Why Hinata was sitting in, Tsukishima wasn't sure, but he didn't say anything since Hinata wouldn't be able to understand what was going on anyway. And it seemed like he wasn't going to budge.

Kageyama had brought in files and notebooks, placing them on the table, then rolled out a blueprint, the heading saying 'MUZURU CORP' on it, so Tsukishima could guess what it was.

"I marked every location we already infiltrated." There were red marks on most of the page, only a few spots that weren't touched, but Tsukishima didn't worry too much about it since they could go back - they didn't get caught once, they won't get caught again.

"But, this blueprint that Tanaka got, it was made in 2008. If the company has been running since 1970," Kageyama pulled out a smaller sheet of paper, another blueprint though, of long tube, leading to a bunker. He put the sheet of paper under the middle of MUZURU CORP, now showing the whole structure of the building. The top half that everyone sees, then the bottom half that should've been a secret.

"Where did you find this?" Tsukishima asked, not doubting, but wanting to make sure that this assumption was legitimate, and perhaps not an assumption at all.

"When I was looking at the files of different workers here, something didn't add up," he took out a notebook, names filled in with little notes beside them. "Every construction worker that built this place needed to report which part they were working on of the building before every shift. All those records and files are still here," he showed Tsukishima a printed piece of paper to further prove his statement.  
"Except one worker, who never reported, but was still recorded down."  
"It was 1970," Tsukishima retorted. "Lot's of things were inefficient back then."

"Except it wasn't 1970." Kageyama pulled a file of another man Tsukishima was unfamiliar with, but there was a photo and background information right there for him. "Suzumi was a construction worker working for them in 2000, but what was he constructing? The sunroof? No, that was built in 1995. Making sure the vents were alright? Not his job. He had a different task, but no one cares about the mild construction workings of a gun company." 

Tsukishima nodded approvingly, then looking at the blueprint. If Nishinoya made a wrong turn that night, he could've stumbled across it.

"This secret clubhouse of theirs, what else is there to know about it?"

"Well," Kageyama opened a bunch of files - Asami, Tanaka Shu and Tanaka Saiki. "They all knew about this place. Asami, obviously. Then Shu had to have a place of reporting that Noya couldn't follow him to so he couldn't find it. And Saiki," Kageyama pulled out a police report from Saiki's file, handing it to Tsukishima. "Had a key."

_Missing Person : Tanaka Saiki  
_ _Age : 42  
Height : 172 cm  
Weight : 68kg  
Last time seen : 2 AM   
Last seen by : Hanamaki Tsuna (neightbour) Hanamaki Ume (neighbour)_

Tsukishima skimmed down the information to see what Kageyama wanted him to read.

_Last Seen Wearing : Black sweater, black sweatpants (in pockets - lighter), black shoes  
Carrying : Car keys, wallet, access card (place unidentified/workplace access card), house keys - no weapon identified  
_

"His wife must've watched him go that night," Kageyama commented. "The access card must've looked a lot like the one he had at the company he works at because that's how she reported it. But the police might be onto something, labeling it as unidentified for now."

Tsukishima nodded slowly, looking at pictures of Saiki, the missing man who was Shu's cousin - again, nothing weird about him looks wise. Just an ordinary man with an ordinary aura.

"And how do you know that this access card is the key?" Tsukishima pushed on, putting the report down and back in it's file.

"Because, 4-Eyes," Kageyama looked at him straight in the eyes. "Last time I checked, regular office workers don't go to work at 2 AM."

Tsukishima smirked and nodded. If Saiki was really last seen at 2 AM by his neighbours, he was going somewhere or coming back from somewhere. He would have to ask Tanaka to get security footage of their street that night to see if he could find out where Saiki actually went, and if it really was a missing person's case.

"What you're saying is, Saiki isn't missing - he's hiding."

Kageyama didn't respond, but Tsukishima understood. If something went down between these 3 men before Tsukishima killed one of them off, then that means Tsukishima killed him too soon, and now he has to finish this off.

"When should we try getting into here then?" Tsukishima asked, pointing to the underground bunker on the blueprint. He looked at the report of when Saiki went missing, checking the date.

"I guess on a Friday."

After putting away the files of the people, Kageyama gave Tsukishima some time to study the blueprint to find out how they were going to break in. If the blueprint was accurate then the vents should be fine. If Nishinoya came with them he could sneak in.

"Only we can go on this mission." Tsukishima said out loud. "The 2 of us."

He observed the making of the bunker, the ratio of the size of the building to the size of the bunker. If he was doing the math right - and he was 110% sure he was - the bunker's entrance wasn't big and had a lot of tunnels crisscrossing. All 4 of them there was unnecessary and would bring even more unnecessary havoc. 

"If we enter the way Nishinoya did, we can make it. But I'm sure we're not small enough to do it fast, and we don't have a lot of time, so the vents are a backup plan. If we pick in like Tanaka did, we can find the way the other employees get in-"  
"They have security." Kageyama told him, maybe a little too late. "I also took a look at the payment stamps of every employee. Certain security guards are being paid a little more extra for shifts they aren't scheduled for."

Taking this factor in, Tsukishima tried to look for another way now.

"Your way." Pointing to one of the windows on the side of the building, he showed Kageyama the direction they would go. "The window to Asami's office. If he's the leader of their operation then he has a separate entrance, don't you think?"

Kageyama raised an eyebrow at Tsukishima's commentary. It wasn't on the blueprint, but he didn't see it as impossible. 

"A big CEO like him," Tsukishima went on since Kageyama didn't look convinced. "Even if he's on the top floor. There's something not right." Tsukishima was pointing to one of the vents, specifically the start of Nishinoya's break in.

"Nishinoya chose his starting point with reason, knowing if he just followed it all the way without making any turns, he would hit the IT room in no time. If he got to the meeting before me, that means the vents aren't in a pattern. He went through the side of the building and climbed up, then went straight. He should've ended up-" Tsukishima dragged his finger, then pointed right at the IT room - the first place Nishinoya _should_ have ended up in.

"I don't doubt Nishinoya. He knew what he was doing. Just the make up of the place doesn't make sense." Tsukishima observed, furrowing his eyebrows as things fell into place, yet at the same time caused even more problems.

"We get in using your way, through the windows, then check Asami's office first. If I'm wrong, then we go from there. We can get Tanaka to hack the security system from my office if we need to."

Kageyama agreed, the of them finishing off their discussion plans, then put away the blueprints. Hinata was already dozed off by the end of their discussion, and Tsukishima was getting ready to leave. 

"Oh, and 4-Eyes," Kageyama called out as Tsukishima walked out the door. The mafia leader turned to look at him, seeing what he wanted now. "Never barge into my house like that again."

Friday came. Kageyama explained the plan to Tanaka and Nishinoya and they agreed to stay in the warehouse, just in case. There was also the case of Fukurodani's alliance and their plan to meet, which Hinata was successful at arranging - they were gonna go to a beach house. It was just the matter of bringing everyone.

Obviously Hinata would bring Kageyama.   
Tanaka was supposed to come, but personal matters blocked his way.

"It's Kiyoko's and my's anniversary! I'm so sorry, but she'll kill me if I bring work into this!"

Nishinoya fought with Tsukishima about whether he could bring Asahi or not, Tsukishima telling him they were there on business he couldn't afford Nishinoya to get distracted.

"But you're bringing Yamaguchi! It's not fair, it's not fair, it's not fair! I'll follow you home and scream at you from your door if I have to!"

So Asahi was also coming.

Then Tsukishima, who explained the situation to Yamaguchi and told him that it would be fun if it was a couple's trip. To his surprise, Yamaguchi was hesitant.

"I don't know, it seems kind of weird to be apart of a stranger's engagement party. And isn't it a little rude?" Yamaguchi said with a small voice, not rejecting the idea because Tsukishima seemed so excited about it, but still wanted to voice his opinion.

"They're not complete strangers. They're Hinata's friends." Which wasn't a complete lie. Bokuto was his friend, and Akaashi - which Tsukishima learned was his fiancé's name - probably knew of Hinata and Kageyama by now.

Yamaguchi still looked unsure, but before he could totally reject, Tsukishima brought out his weapon, leaning into Yamaguchi and kissing his cheek.

"Please, baby? I think it would be lots of fun, going together and spending time by the ocean. Picnics, sparklers - holding hands and walking. Don't you think so?"

Yamaguchi stiffened, then his expression went soft, nodding his head eagerly. When Tsukishima said it like that, it sounded like the best thing in the world! He just didn't know that half the time Tsukishima was going to be focused on Bokuto, and the other half focused Akaashi.

"Great! I'll tell Hinata to give us a room."

So by Friday night everything was settled with the plan to become allies with Fukurodani. They went over plans during lunchtime, texted throughout the day, so now they were ready for when they might. Making alliances with another mafia was intense - especially if you were the two most powerful ones in Japan.

"Alright, you ready?"

Kageyama and Tsukishima made it to Tokyo by 11 PM, back at MUZURU CORP, but this time only 4-Eyes and King, working together with Thunder and Dragon on standby. They were dressed in their uniform, earpiece in and knives in their belts. If they encountered any guns on the way - which they were sure would happen - they would steal them.

"Let's check in then." They both turned on their earpieces, letting it connect. Even though Tanaka and Nishinoya were far away, the earpieces were able to connect flawlessly. 

"4-Eyes to King."  
"Go for King. King to Thunder."  
"Go for Thunder! This is so cool! Thunder to Dragon."  
"I'm right beside you... . Uh, Go for Dragon. Dragon to 4-Eyes."

Tsukishima didn't bother responding. Instead, him and Kageyama began their mission, making their way to the building in a sprint.

Getting up the wall and finding a window wasn't hard. They've done it multiple times. 

Getting up the wall and finding that the window had a security system on it - that put them in a bit of a stickier situation.

"4-Eyes to Dragon.""Go for Dragon.""The security system on the window - can you handle it?""Copy."

Tsukishima couldn't hear it, and him and Kageyama were standing on the window ledge for a few minutes, but there was finally a beep from the window, the latch opening.

"Thank you."  
"No problem, boss."

Kageyama went in first, then Tsukishima, lightly landing on their feet as they broke into the office of Asami Muzuru. 

It was near empty, just a desk with books, a few gun replicas here and there, but they could tell it was just for show. No pictures, no certificates, nothing personal. Even a CEO had to have a little bit sentimental in their office, even if it was just a tie.

"Here." 

Kageyama noticed something odd about the positioning of the bookshelf, 1 book sticking out a little bit more. He pulled it out slowly, and like he expected the bookshelf split in 2, exposing a staircase going down somewhere that the two could only assume was the secret bunker.

"Thunder, you would love this."  
"Yeah, well, I wasn't invited, so..."

Kageyama and Tsukishima started their way down the stairs, taking precautions and waiting for any traps first, but after the first 10 steps of nothing happening, they started running down swiftly. Considering them starting at the top of the building and were now running towards underground, it was taking them awhile.

They finally made it though - and they were met with 10 guards in suits with guns in their hands. They probably weren't expecting any break-ins, so it took a bit of time before they processed that 2 more people came down, 2 people in black suits covering their identity. The change in the guards expressions showed they realized what was happening.

"Ah shit."

The shootings started and Tsukishima and Kageyama split up. They were able to dodge the bullets, Kageyama running up the wall, flipping over the guards and managing to jump on one of them, now on his back, making it so if the rest of the 9 shoot Kageyama, they were going to shoot one of their own.

Tsukishima took this time of hesitation as an opportunity, attacking another one of the guards, flipping him over and pining him on the ground. He took his gun and quickly began to shoot, starting with shooting the man on the ground, then shot 3 others who were pointing their gun at Kageyama.

The guards noticed and turned to start shooting at Tsukishima too, but Tsukishima was quicker, yanking one of the standing guards and using him as a shield once they started shooting. Once his weight got heavier, Tsukishima had to put a little more energy to keeping him up as a shield, because for some reasons these guards thought shooting a dead man would do something.

Kageyama took this opportunity as well and shot from his side, managing to get the rest of them, shooting the 5 that were attacking Tsukishima, then shooting the man he was, only on the thigh though since he helped Kageyama unwillingly and Kageyama was feeling nice.

"There's probably more."

At that moment, a cellphone began to ring. At first Tsukishima thought it was from Tanaka's end of the earpiece, but when he saw Kageyama pulling his phone out his eyes widened.

"You brought your phone?"  
"Yeah," Kageyama sighed. "Hinata asked me to tonight."  
"And you _listened_?"

Before Kageyama could answer they had already made it to the end of the hallway where they were greeted with 10 more guards, all with guns at the ready. Kageyama picked up his phone.

"Boke, I'm in the middle of something."

The shootings started, Tsukishima and Kageyama both leaning on the wall around the corner they came from, so they could see the bullets shooting past them. And Tsukishima didn't know if it was because Hinata was loud, or because Kageyama was that close, but he could hear their conversation loud and clear.

_"I know, but I need help! The hot water's not working!"_

Kageyama and Tsukishima ran out into the shooting range, Kageyama having one hand holding his phone so he could talk to Hinata, and the other holding his gun up. They sprinted across, dodging each bullet.  
Kageyama ran up the wall again, and this time Tsukishima as well, running up on the opposite wall and jumped off of it, both landing right in the middle of the 10 guards.

"What? Didn't the guy come in today to check that?"  
_"I know! But I can't get it to work!"_

A bullet grazed by Kageyama's cheek, ending up shooting one of the guards - 9 to go.

"Did you try checking the water tank?"  
_"Mmm, I can try."_

Kageyama shot 2 men as he waited for Hinata to check the water tank, while Tsukishima jumped on the back of one of the guards, elbowing his neck and knocking him out. He stole another gun from the unconscious guard then shot another 3 men - the 4 guards left took out their backup guns and aimed them, but Kageyama was faster, shooting 2 in the head. Tsukishima dodged the bullets the other 2 were shooting, then threw knife into the heart of one of them while using his other hand to shoot the last one.

"Well?"  
_"It looks fine! I think it's the pipes again."_ "  
"Just boil water for now then. I'll look at it when I get home."

The 2 began to run down the hall again, trying to find the entrance. They were met with 2 dead ends already, but finally they made it to a grand door, 5 buff guards in front with rifles. Tsukishima was quick in thinking, using Kageyama's thigh as support to jump to the ceiling, grabbing onto one of the lights that hanging. From the high range, he was able to shoot 2 guards, though they didn't look too affected by it.

 _"Now I have to wait even longer for my bath! Whatever, I guess... Did you get shot?"_  
"No."  
_"Good. Okay, bye! Love you."_  
"Love you too."

Kageyama ended the call, the rifles shooting at him once they became less focused on Tsukishima, who was now jumping from light to light on the ceiling. Kageyama ran on the wall again, then jumped to the other wall on the other side, now jumping from wall to wall as he was shooting from those angles. He took his knife out and used it like Tsukishima did, throwing it to one of the guards straight at the heart. One finally went down, leaving them with 4 more to handle.

Tsukishima barely manage to get to where they were from the high ground, jumping on one of them. They were quick too however, about to shoot Tsukishima, but Kageyama attacked first with good old-fashion tackling, shooting one in the head. When they were focused on Kageyama, Tsukishima shot 2 more men before they could shoot Kageyama, which was a close call. They didn't shoot Kageyama, but right beside him on the ground. 

The only damage the 2 mafia members had was a few scars, proving that size didn't matter at all. Brute strength didn't make you skilled.

"4-Eyes," the last guard growled, aiming his rifle at Tsukishima's head once Tsukishima landed on the ground. "I never thought I would have the privilege of being responsible for your death."

As quickly as this guard brought the gun to Tsukishima's head, Kageyama's hand aggressively grasped his wrist and pulled it in his direction, changing the target. Now, the gun was pointing right at Kageyama's head.

The guard was clearly shocked, eyes widening - this guy's first reaction wasn't to kill the him, not to attack or even push 4-Eyes out of the way. 

It was to take the bullet for him.

"I know who you are!" He - the guard - had instructions to kill leaders if he ever encountered them. 4-Eyes was the nastiest leader, so the excitement was clear. Right hand men didn't matter though. They were only good to break down and get information from. He didn't need to kill Kageyama, and probably shouldn't.

"Karasuno. You think you're the best, but you're just a bunch of kids!" 

You couldn't see it behind their masks, but their eyes said it all the same. 

_You poor, misled, incompetent soul. Could a bunch of kids cause you to shake like that?_

"And you men are just a bunch of cowards."

It was Tsukishima who shot him from where he stood, watching the last man fall. The rifle lowered from Kageyama's head and the 2 Karasuno members were now faced with several dead men and a big door. Without hesitation, they left the war to start the battle.

They lifted their guns at the ready, expecting to be met with more men who were ready to attack. They were expecting Asami to be there, ready to kill them. They were expecting to be greeted by more people who wanted them dead, and they were expecting to fight till the end to find out who wanted to 4-Eyes and what was their purpose, what they wanted with the Tanaka family and what their mission was.

They were expecting to win.

"4-Eyes to Dragon. You can open it now."

It was an underestimated statement to say Tsukishima and Kageyama were outraged when the room was completely empty.

The walk back to their car was silent. Both were so livid, they couldn't even speak about it. 

Was Asami a step ahead of them? Was Karasuno the ultimate goal or have they already made a move on Fukurodani? Was Saiki alive too? Did they know Karasuno was going to attack tonight?

Or did they just miscalculate. They broke into the bunker tonight based on the night Saiki went missing, but there wasn't even concrete evidence to support the relation between Asami and Saiki. Was Shu even important to them?

"It wasn't a complete loss," Kageyama assured softly to Tsukishima after he offered to drive them home. He could tell the leader was irritated by the outcome of their mission, and with good reasoning. They expected more to come out of tonight.

"And besides, it's not over," the King pressed on, not wanting his leader to get too worked up over this. It wasn't like this was the first time a mission went a different direction - it was just this time it was a major one.

"We still have Fukurodani. Once we have that connection-"

A phone started ringing, this time it being Tsukishima's. He looked to see who it was, his eyes widening a bit. "It's Yamaguchi."

With a deep breath, Tsukishima picked up, trying to sound as normal as possible. "Hi baby."

 _"You picked up!"_ Kageyama could hear Yamaguchi say. Tsukishima looked at the time and noticed it was 3 AM, but it was also suspicious that Yamaguchi was calling him at this time.

"Yeah, I had work."  
_"Ah, right. Anyway, I'm really sorry for calling at this time, but my apartment flooded! The whole floor, I think it's my neighbour-anyway, can I stay over? I'm so glad you picked up!"_  
"Of course you can-"

Tsukishima's eyes widened once he remembered they were in Tokyo - he wouldn't be back until at least 8 AM, and that was if they weren't met with rush hour once they were back.

"Uhh, well, I'm not home yet. Can-Can you stay maybe with Hinata?"  
_"Hm? Oh, I actually tried calling him first since I remember him saying Kageyama has a night shift, but he didn't pick up."_

Tsukishima looked at Kageyama desperately, but he was alright on it, calling Hinata.

"Okay, well, maybe try again. My shift isn't over yet! I might not be home till 5."  
_"What? Don't we have the beach trip later? You said we're leaving early."_  
"Yeah, but, uh-"  
_"Wait, I'm getting another-oh! It's Hinata."_  
"Great! Pick it up, I'm sure he's worried, okay, bye, love you."  
_"Wait, but-"_

Tsukishima let out a loud sigh as he hung up. It was so suspicious, and his mind is somewhere else right now that he couldn't even think straight. He was tired and angry and frustrated - and he loved Yamaguchi so much.

"You really have to-"  
"I know."

Kageyama sighed too, but didn't press on. Everyone knew at this point. Especially now, when things were getting more personal. Tsukishima knew if he wasn't fast enough, Yamaguchi would be getting involved too without any say. He knew, he knew, he knew.

"I know."


	6. The Beach pt. I - Akaashi & Bokuto

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're finally meeting Akaashi and Bokuto to celebrate their engagement at a beach house. But when you're in such a business, work follows you everywhere you go - even in a vacation.

"Hina-chan!! Hey, hey, hey!!!"

"Bokuto-sa-a-a-a-an!"

Kageyama and Tsukishima were totally lacking sleep and it didn't help that everyone else was filled with enough energy to conquer the sun. They couldn't blame anyone here though, because they were the ones who willingly left to go on the mission last night. If anyone besides them was to blame it would be that bastard Asami himself.

"You've met my boyfriend already, right?" Hinata introduced Kageyama enthusiastically, tugging on his arm excitedly, making the taller one scowl. Kageyama was somewhat polite though and bowed slightly as a greeting.

"Of course I remember Kage-kun!" Bokuto said with a wide smile, but before Kageyama could say 'don't call me that', Hinata was already going around introducing everyone.

"This is Yamaguchi! He's dating this brute, Tsukishima." Tsukishima didn't take offence to it, but still ended up glaring at Hinata. Yamaguchi sputtered, torn between defending Tsukishima and introducing himself to Bokuto and Akaashi.

"Eh-Hinata! Tsuki isn't a brute...""It's fine, Yamaguchi." Tsukishima sighed, giving a small wave to Bokuto and Akaashi. He didn't want to make it obvious, but he was studying them, trying to decipher who he needs to talk to.   
Should he just talk to both of them? Usually Kageyama sat in most meetings Tsukishima, almost all of them in fact, so it wasn't weird to have both the leader and the right hand man there. Or was their ways different? But they're engaged, so maybe it would be okay-

"Next is Noya! And his new friend, Asahi-san, but to be honest, I don't know him too well...but if Yuu says he's good, then he must be!" Right. Hinata was still introducing everyone.

"Ah, so-sorry I came. Uh, I feel like I'm intruding, so maybe I should just go-""Nonsense! I invited you, so you're coming!" 

1) Tsukishima didn't think Asahi was actually coming and 2) he really thought Nishinoya was exaggerating when he said Asahi had little to no backbone. It was like the man didn't have a spine of his own. Nishinoya really misjudged by trying to recruit him.  
At least Nishinoya was getting a little love out of it.

"It's nice meeting everyone!" Bokuto sayed cheerlfully with a big grin, that Tsukishima had to squint with how bright it was. "I'm Bokuto! And this is my fiancé, Akaashi!"

Akaashi, only a little behind Bokuto, bowed in greeting. His face was straight, not showing nearly as much friendliness as Bokuto. It was like Tsukishima's expressions, so he could've gone based on that and deemed him as the leader - only, Kageyama was also like that.

As they put their luggage in the bottom compartment of the bus, Tsukishima noticed the little things. Akaashi carried Bokuto's luggage, explaining to him why he needed to put it horizontally instead of vertically so it fit better and other people could put their luggages too. Akaashi ran to get Bokuto a bottle of water when Bokuto complained about the heat, then he told Bokuto not to drink too much now or else he'd sweat more. Akaashi started to give Bokuto words of encouragement when Bokuto realized with their limited time at the beach they wouldn't be able to go everywhere he wanted to go, telling him that they could always come back another time.

Tsukishima was so confused.

"He has a brain of a leader, but the tendency of a dog," Kageyama mumbled in Tsukishima's ear. So it wasn't just him - Kageyama was thrown off too.

It was like Akaashi was taking care of Bokuto the whole time, similar to how Kageyama watched Tsukishima just with affection and not obligation. But it was so clear that Akaashi was the brains of the relationship.

"Maybe it's a relationship thing."  
"I don't think you choosing your leader is based off of how big their heart is," Tsukishima retorted, now watching as Bokuto fell on the curbside, whining when he saw a scratch on his knee. Akaashi was prepared with a bandage and disinfectant. 

"It _has_ to be Bokuto-san. I mean..." Kageyama didn't have an explanation. At this point, it wasn't just them finding out the leader so that they could talk to them, but rather curiosity because they actually couldn't tell.

"It is." Nishinoya came from behind them, wrapping an arm around each other necks, grinning widely.

"Bokuto-san calls the shots, so it has to be! But don't spend your whole vacation on this - exams are barely around the corner and I already got Asahi-san all to myself this weekend!" Nishinoya pumped his eyebrows suggestively at them, then nodded his head over to the man he was admiring right now.

Azumane Asahi - it was no question why Nishinoya had an eye on him. He was tall, muscular and when he bent over- ah, well, that was for Nishinoya to think about.  
Tsukishima was disappointed though, when he realized just how gentle and flustered this man got. It wasn't like he was going to recruit him though, because he already knew the florist was a tame spirit, but there should be some limits.

"Asahi-san! Let me help you!" Nishinoya shouted from where they were, the sudden call making Asahi flinch and drop the bags he was putting in the bus. Apparently a bunch of college girls thought the same about Asahi because they asked for 'help' to put their luggage in as well just to see his arms flexing in the tank top he was wearing. It was near impossible for Asahi to say no.

"Damn bitch-asses. If I had my ninja stars they wouldn't have any hair right now," Nishinoya gritted his teeth and muttered under his breath before letting go of Kageyama and Tsukishima, running over to Asahi to help put the dropped luggage into the bus, aggressively throwing them in.

"Ah, Noya-kun, uhm, be gentle with the-""Asahi-san, I'm thirsty! Get me some water, won't you?"

Tsukishima helped with Yamaguchi's luggage, putting it in as well with his own luggage. "Tsuki, I'm so excited!" Yamaguchi gushed, looking at the pamphlet of the beach, advertising the different activities they could do while they were there.

"There's a food festival! That sounds like fun. Bokuto-san and Akaashi-san seem really nice, I'm actually really glad we joined!"

Tsukishima smiled softly back at him, not responding though because he didn't know how. The only reason they were here was because of work, otherwise Bokuto wouldn't have been invited in the first place. They were about to be used and there was potential that Tsukishima was ruining their perfectly relaxing time together. 

Oh well.

"15 minute warning! Please make you're way on the bus now, because we'll be leaving in 15 minutes!" The bus driver announced, getting everyone's attention. The group of them started making their way to the bus, showing their tickets and finding seats where they could all be together. The seats were by 2, so naturally everyone sat with their partner.

"Akaashi!! Let's sit at the back, yeah?""If everyone else wants to."

They all didn't mind sitting at the back, so everyone took a seat. Akaashi and Bokuto were at the very last seat, next to them being Hinata and Kageyama. In front of Hinata and Kageyama was Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, then beside them Asahi and Nishinoya. Everyone was ready, chatting about what they were going to do once they were at the beach, what they wanted to see and most importantly, what they were going to eat.

"Ah, Akaashi, I forgot to lock my luggage. Wait, I'll be right back!" Bokuto said, jumping out of his seat and making his way down the bus. Before he could even get halfway though, another man on the bus - bigger and more muscular than even Asahi - towering over Bokuto and looking down at him. 

"Excuse me!" Bokuto exclaimed. "I need to get by." Bokuto tried walking past, but the tall man glared down at him and scowled. "Watch who you're talking to, kid." With that, the man shoved Bokuto, making him fall on his ass with a soft grunt, hissing a bit since the bus floor wasn't exactly a comfortable landing.

Everyone stared at them, especially keeping an eye on Bokuto to see if he was okay. The 6 of them all had the same idea, looking to see Akaashi's reaction, but by the time their heads turned, Akaashi was gone. Looking back at the scene with Bokuto, their eyes widened when Akaashi was already there, lifting Bokuto up by the collar of his shirt and pulling him behind him. Akaashi had to look up at the man who pushed down Bokuto, but that didn't get rid of the look in his eyes - he stared dead through him.

"What're you gonna do about it, cock sucker?" The large man growled, but Akaashi didn't even flinch, speaking firmly.

"Apologize to him." 

A laugh erupted from the bigger man, throwing his head back, then looked at Akaashi again. When he saw Akaashi not backing down, his face as well went straight, walking straight up to Akaashi until their faces were an inch close.

Akaashi still didn't move.

"Or else what? You'll kick me? As someone who takes it up the ass, you should just let us men handle the real fights. If you're boyfriend wants to get past me, he'll do something."

Akaashi still had no reaction, just staring up at the assaulter, then turned to face Bokuto, nodding his head to let him know it was okay and Bokuto could walk back. "I locked your luggage already. It's fine."

The man who pushed Bokuto down was furious now, however, watching as Akaashi and Bokuto began walking back to their seats. His face went red and shook his fist at them.   
"Faggots like you can't handle a fucking fight! That's why you're running, eh? Can't even stand up for yourself."

Akaashi turned his head slightly, only the side of his face in preview, but the look in his eyes was all the same. Cold and blank, narrowing even though they weren't looking straight at this man. An irritated sigh escaped his lips.

"I know a fight when I see one," he said softly. "And you're not even half that."

Before any more shouting could happen, the bus driver came on and it looked like someone called him. "Over there! Him!" They pointed at the large man, who instigated everything by pushing Bokuto down in the first place. "He's harassing the passengers!" 

The bus driver sighed and nodded, walking up to the man. "Sir, I'm sorry. I'm going to have to ask you to get off, please.""What?!" He exclaimed in sudden surprise. "I didn't even do anything!"  
"Sir, please. Before I call security."

With curses and shouts and a reassurance he would get a refund, the man was off the bus, leaving them all in peace, and everyone looking at Akaashi.

"Akaashi-san, that was so cool!"  
"You were so under control! I would've smashed him in the face!"  
"How did you keep things from escalating? I thought you would've given him a black eye and showed him what's good!"

Akaashi didn't respond to any of the comments, just offering a small smile and bowing like a sort of thanks before turning his attention to Bokuto, who looked like he was about to cry. 

"Akaashi-i-i-i-i!!! Thank you!" He wailed loudly, hugging Akaashi tightly and kissing his cheeks over and over again. Akaashi hugged him back and stroked his hair.

"It's okay. Don't cry.""I'm not crying!! You're just so cool!"

Bokuto couldn't see it, but the comment made Akaashi blush and smile a little wider. "You think so?""I know so."

With that scene finishing off and the bus starting up their ride to the beach, everyone went back to their own business. Akaashi and Bokuto were discussing what they were going to do in Miyagi for the rest of their week once they came back from the beach. Asahi was telling Nishinoya about the different flowers he sold (whether Nishinoya was listening or not, no one was sure). Hinata fell asleep, along with Yamaguchi, so that left Kageyama and Tsukishima talking quietly to each other.

"We do it together? Both of them there?" They had to be careful with their words, in case Bokuto or Akaashi heard accidentally.

"I mean, do we have a choice?" Kageyama whispered back, occasionally peering over the engaged couple's way, trying to see if their conversation turned to a different direction, but for the past 40 minutes they've been discussing vacation plans. "I really don't know..."

"No signs of business though," Tsukishima whispered back, referring to the fact that this couple didn't look _anything_ like mafia leaders. Sure, there was Akaashi's coolness, and Bokuto's leadership like personality. But Tsukishima couldn't even picture the two in such a setting - they were to lovey-dovey and connected to their feelings. 

"So?" Kageyama asked, unsure as well. It was clear this was the first time either of them was trying to make an alliance with another mafia. They didn't realize it would be a lot like making a friend.

"Kage...boke.." Hinata mumbled in his sleep, reaching his arm out to grab Kageyama. "Come.""Wait." Kageyama hissed, letting Hinata take his hand and hold it.

"What's the plan?" Tsukishima didn't know the plan either. 

"I guess we're winging it?" There was a small moment of silence between the two of them, stunned by even the thought of Tsukishima considering such a tactic.  
"...you're really stressed out nowadays, aren't you?"

The beach was a lot nicer than any of them expected. The pamphlet didn't do justice to just how blue the water was, and the sand was so white that it was a little hard to look at.

"Bea-ea-ea-ea-ea-each!!!" Hinata, Bokuto and Nishinoya all screamed at the same time. Getting their luggage was a fast task before they were taking off their shirts and running to the sand.

"Hina-boke! We have to check in, you stupid shit!""Check in for us then! They don't need the both of us!!"

Tsukishima looked over at Yamaguchi to see how he was reacting to the beach, and as he expected, there was awe in his face. Yamaguchi looked out at the sea with amazement, holding Tsukishima's hand tightly.   
Tsukishima also had to admit that watching this scene with Yamaguchi beside him - it hit a little different.

"You can join them if you want," Tsukishima offered, but didn't loosen his grip at all. Yamaguchi finally looked over at Tsukishima, smiling at him then shaking his head. "I want to spend this time with you, Tsuki."

That should've been a sign that Tsukshima should _not_ have been as focused on Akaashi and Bokuto as much as he was.

"Tsuki! Look, I found a shell-""Is that a jellyfish? Akaashi, Tsuki-san, look! It's a jellyfish."   
For the sake of friendship or whatever, Tsukishima checked out the jellyfish too, following Bokuto and watching as he picked up the pink, squishy sea creature excitedly. "Bokuto-san, please be careful. I don't want you to get stung."  
"Don't worry!" Bokuto reassured Akaashi, seeing his fiancé looking concerned. "I just have to piss on myself. Tsuki-san, you know, don't you? You must know since you're smart and wear glasses!"

Yamaguchi held his shell by himself as he watched.

"Tsuki, look! This hat looks kinda like-""Tsukishima-san," Akaashi called out, showing him a snow globe of the beach. "This looks like something you can give your mother. What do you think?"  
It was hard to get into a conversation with Akaashi about anything personal, but for some reason the mention of his mom got Akaashi talking to Tsukishima much more easily. Even though he lied about her birthday being next week, the result of Akaashi talking to him more was enough.  
"I think she would enjoy it," Tsukishima nodded, taking the snow globe from him. "Thank you, Akaashi-san."

Yamaguchi put the hat back where he found it.

"Tsuki, this tastes so good! Here, say 'ahh'-""Hey, glasses! Akaashi bought some beer. Are you gonna come drink with us?"  
Yamaguchi snapped his head at Bokuto who called his boyfriend. This has happened way too many times today and at first he didn't mind. It was nice to see Tsukishima talk to different people every once in a while, even if Tsukishima didn't particular enjoy it.

"Okay, I'm coming, Bokuto-san."

 _That_ was what Yamaguchi was pissed about. The sudden friendliness towards strangers Tsukishima met that day. People they barely knew, but Tsukishima was treating them like some sort of longtime friends, completely ignoring Yamaguchi this whole day.

The food festival was supposed to be their time to hang out, Yamaguchi made that clear. Eat good food, make out a little, maybe have some mind blowing sex. But all that's happened was Tsukishima following Bokuto and Akaashi meaning Yamaguchi was also following them, only being met with more ignorance from Tsukishima. And it wasn't like Yamaguchi didn't _try_ talking to them. He did! But then-

"Wow, Bokuto-san! You coach? That's so cool! What sports do you-""Bokuto-san, look over here. There's a sparkly seashell."

Tsukishima just _had_ to cut him off. Not once, not twice - 19 times in counting and they haven't even reached dinner. 

So Yamaguchi gave up. Not wanting to be the third wheel of any other couple though, Yamaguchi decided that it was time to call it a night. If Tsukishima wanted to have fun with his new friends, then fine, but Yamaguchi wasn't going to stand there being ignored.

"I'm gonna go up now. I think I'm a little tired," Yamaguchi told Hinata softly, quietly eyeing Tsukishima as he was drinking beer on the seashore with Akaashi and Bokuto. When Tsukishima laughed, that's when Yamaguchi looked away.

"Eh? But it's only 10! We're gonna do sparklers at midnight-""It's fine." Yamaguchi offered a small smile, and before Hinata could protest any further Yamaguchi was walking back to the beach house. Hinata wasn't sure, but he felt like Yamaguchi's eyes were watering as he left.

"Never would've guessed being engaged was this much fun!" 

With their height and weight, the 3 weren't even close to drunk, so Tsukishima recognized this as Bokuto's natural self. He didn't want them drinking too much though, since they needed to discuss some things, and they needed to discuss them by tonight. 

Looking around to see who was near, Tsukishima noticed Yamaguchi wasn't there anymore. Hinata wasn't either though, so he guessed the two gone off to do something.

_'Odd. He would've let me know.'_

But Tsukishima didn't have time to think about that now. This was their chance to bring it up, now that Yamaguchi wasn't close enough to hear anything, and even Asahi was off doing his own thing so he wasn't a problem either.  
It did take a little time for Nishinoya to detach himself from Asahi-san though.

"I'm sure you know by now," Tsukishima started, all 5 of them sitting on the blanket on the beach. Akaashi and Bokuto were on one side while Tsukishima, Kageyama and Nishinoya were on the other, Tsukishima in the middle, ready to discuss. "We're apart of the Karasuno mafia. I'm the leader."

Akaashi and Bokuto both sat up straighter at the same time. They didn't even need to look at each other. "We know."

Tsukishima had to admit, it was a little more intimidating when it was the two of them together. Sure, he and Kageyama were close in their own way - Kageyama was literally ready to take a _bullet_ for Tsukishima - but the relationship Bokuto and Akaashi had was totally different.  
There was heart in what they did. Even if it was something minor, they were there for each other, relying on one another and never hesitating to let the other know how they feel. Tsukishima would go as far to say they were the strongest couple, period.

"That means you know that we're in Fukurodani." Akaashi spoke, keeping his eyes on Tsukishima as he nodded in reply. "So that means this beach party, it's not just an engagement celebration I'm guessing."

Tsukishima sighed, studying the two of them again, this time with another perspective. Tsukishima always thought that Karasuno was the strongest mafia because of their skills and assertiveness. The art of not getting caught and not giving a fuck was a perfect mix to success, the mafia being a cruel place to begin with. It was a matter of precision and years of experience with as little failure as possible, which was undoubtedly pressuring, especially when that's what mattered 99% of the time.

What these two had though, was that 1%. 

Neither were standing down. Neither were weak in expression. Their shoulders were straight and firm, their posture was confident and their eyes held the same strength Tsukishima only had when doing business. Neither held any sign of letting go, even if they didn't have the upper hand - they had each other. 

Trust. Compassion. Love.

Something Tsukishima chose to lack and ignore, but now he could see why Fukurodani was the next target.

"It isn't." Tsukishima confirmed. "I'm sure you've heard already. MUZURU CORP is-""We know. We have men there."

Tsukisihma's eyes went wide when Bokuto admitted they did have connections in the corporation already. Just like Nishinoya said, they had connections in many places - Hinata was one already without anyone knowing!

"But we're not taking the offense. It's not worth it," Akaashi continued on, knowing where Tsukishima was going with this because he was already offered by 2 other mafias to make an alliance. Tsukishima didn't seem to bite the bait though, which he expected from one of the strongest mafias in Japan.

"They're bringing down mafias and making bets, putting different rats into anyone of them, even yours," Tsukishima explained, pressing on because he really needed to make an alliance by now, and if it wasn't the second strongest mafia in Japan, he didn't know who else to go to. He wasn't desperate. He wanted to make the smartest move.  
"You're known for bringing different members in and out of places, so you have no traitors nor any traces back to you're mafia. It's like you're invisible."

Bokuto spoke up next, crossing his arms, looking like he was studying Tsukishima this time.  
"Yes, we do have a lot of members in and out. But the reason why we don't have traitors, isn't because of fear of being handed over." Tsukishima raised an eyebrow at them, but before he could ask, Akaashi was already answering.

"I would be stupid not to accept an offer of alliance with the strongest mafia in Japan," he started off, Nishinoya resisting the urge to scream 'exactly'. "But there's a reason why I'm rejecting now." Akaashi looked at all of them this time, not just Tsukishima, straight in the eyes.

"You didn't know until now who the leader is. You couldn't tell. Am I right?" Kageyama from behind gulped, unsure if Akaashi just knew, or maybe he _did_ hear the conversation him and Tsukishima had on the bus.

"You couldn't tell, not because Bokuto-san and I are difficult to figure out, but because you have this misconception of what a leader is." Tsukishima didn't take any offense to this, though his fist did clench every so slightly.

"You didn't even notice you're boyfriend leaving back to the beach house because you were so focused on this alliance with us. He doesn't even know what Karasuno is, does he?" This time, Tsukishima's jaw clenched visibly.

"Get to your point."

Akaashi raised an eyebrow at him, but continued on, his stare matching Tsukishima's intensity.

"I don't want an alliance with you. Not because you're not good, but because you bring me nothing to offer."

Nishinoya sucked in a breath while Kageyama held his. Tsukishima just continued to stare at Akaashi, finding out right then and there exactly who was calling the shots. Bokuto was there, beside him, holding Akaashi up, supporting

"Possibly if you showed a little more enthusiasm, I would've considered. But right now, I couldn't care less if we were stronger together." Tsukishima opened his mouth to defend, but Akaashi spoke over him.  
"Watching you three, I can tell right away. Tsukishima-san, you carry yourself the same way Asami does - like you're the only one that matters. If I was lying, then you wouldn't be so annoyed by the statement."

Tsukishima snapped, his calm demeanor turning into one of frustration and disgust. To think this alliance would've worked - how could he?

"I'm the leader of a fucking mafia, not a protagonist of an adventure book. Heart and soul aren't needed in the jobs we do."  
"That's where you're wrong." It was Bokuto this time who spoke, and that's when Tsukishima realized Kageyama and Nishinoya have been silent this whole time.

"Heart and soul are the foundation. We're criminals, yes, but we were born into it. There's nothing much we can do. It's a fight for our lives. And some things, they'll be worth fighting for till the end."

Bokuto took Akaashi's hand, holding it firmly. Tsukishima understood now a little more, how Fukurodani was able to survive this long with the feelings they possessed. When fighting for something you love, there's a different drive it stems from.   
It was how Tsukishima miscalculated Asami's moves, and now how he needed to make sure he was taken down. Not to prove Tsukishima was the best, but to make sure he didn't also touch the people he loved.

"You were too impatient in the attack of MUZURU CORP. They haven't been able to kill us because we have inside is the one allegedly following us." Akaashi explained, relaxing his posture a little more, then Tsukishima mirrored him. 

"If we make this alliance, it's not because we need each other. It's because we want to become stronger together and survive together - to protect what was passed down to us and the people we love. Does that sound fair?"

Tsukishima couldn't understand, not fully. Because Karasuno _wasn't_ passed down to him. Karasuno was something he stole. 

But yet, he knew the feeling at the same time. When he held Yamaguchi for the first time, he knew the feeling - doing anything it took to make sure he kept him.   
And it was the same thing with Karasuno. Tsukishima wasn't going to give Karasuno away either, and he wasn't going to lose to someone with unknown motivations. 

Tsukishima looked back at Kageyama and Nishinoya. The both of them nodded approvingly, agreeing that this wasn't something they necessarily needed, but something they wanted. They looked back at the Fukurodani members and nodded. Both Bokuto and Akaashi smiled in their own ways.

"Then we have an alliance."

Midnight was approaching and Tsukishima couldn't find Yamaguchi anywhere on the beach. It was worrying him, especially when he remembered how he pretty much ignored him the whole day. 

It wasn't like it was intentional though! Yamaguchi didn't know it, but it was for his own safety that Tsukishima became friends with Bokuto and Akaashi. Maybe if Yamaguchi knew a little more...

 _'Tonight,'_ he thought to himself. _'I'll tell him tonight.'_

"Hinata, have you seen Yama-""Tsuki-i-i-i-i!!" Hinata shouted, clearly drunk and holding a bottle of whiskey. Kageyama scowled at him, but his red cheeks let Tsukishima know that he was drunk too. If he looked around, everyone was pretty hammered, except maybe Asahi, who felt a little worried that he would be weird drunk around people he just met.

"Tsu-Tsuki! Tsuki, Tsuki, Tsuki!" Hinata giggled, Kageyama hitting him straight on the head. "Oi! Don't say his name like that!" 

Hinata giggled even more, nodding approvingly as he threw his arms around Kageyama. "Mmmm, I like it when you're jealous."

Tsukishima just rolled his eyes at the scene in front of him, tapping Hinata on the shoulder. "Hey, answer my question! Where's Yamaguchi?"

Hinata turned his head to look at Tsukishima, pouting a bit then thinking, like he was trying to remember. "Tadashi? Oh, he went upstairs. Sulking, sulking, so sad." Hinata said with a 'sad' voice, then pretended to cry.

"Won't get laid tonight, that poor boy. Oh, so sad!"

Tsukishima's eyes widened and cursed softly, running across the beach to get to the beach house. He could hear Bokuto yelling behind him, 'Hey glasses! Are you getting more drinks? Get me something too!', but Tsukishima ignored him.

 _'Shit. Shit, shit, shit,'_ Tsukishima thought, getting the key to his room and quickly finding it. When he unlocked it and opened the door, Yamaguchi was outside on the balcony, looking at the sky. The sudden noise of the door made him gasp and turn around, eyes widening when he saw Tsukishima.

"Tsu-Tsuki-""Why're you here?" Tsukishima asked, in maybe a little too harsh of a tone. "Why aren't you down there with us?"

Yamaguchi's shoulders dropped, then he turned back around, looking at the sky. It was a full moon that night.

"Too noisy...I wanted to be alone."

Tsukishima decided now wasn't a good time to be mad and instead joined Yamaguchi on the balcony, sitting beside him. Yamaguchi was wrapped in a big blanket, changed into pajamas even. Tsukishima felt like he messed up a little.

But before he could even apologize, Yamaguchi started talking. "You know, that time when I said I tell you everything? All my secrets?" Tsukishima nodded slowly.

"Well, I have another," Yamaguchi looked over at Tsukishima with a small smile. "I feel like sometimes, you date me out of pity."

This was the first time Tsukishima was hearing of this. He knew Yamaguchi wasn't the most confident person, but he would think that with Tsukishima he thought a little more highly of himself.

"You knew, right? I liked you for a long time. But I didn't think I had a shot because you were, well, you," Yamaguchi laughed, but Tsukishima didn't find this funny. "If it wasn't for Noya saying anything, I would've been satisfied with my one-sided love. But because Noya kept going on about how sad I was just staring at you from afar, you gave me a chance." Yamaguchi gave Tsukishima sad smile. "And I love you for that."

That wasn't true. Maybe the part about him knowing Yamaguchi liked him for so long, and also Nishinoya talking to him, but Tsukishima gave him a chance, not because he felt bad. Nishinoya had to drill it into Tsukishima's brain that if all he focused on was the mafia, one day he was going to rot. He would wake up, the mafia passed down to someone else, and then he wouldn't have anything to do except run away from police all the time.   
Yamaguchi showed him a different feeling Tsukishima didn't think he was capable of - if anything, Yamaguchi should be the one pity dating Tsukishima.

"I hope you know that's not the case," Tsukishima finally responded after 2 whole minutes, but his voice was still quiet. "I'm not good at words, especially like this. But I really want you to know, it's not like that. I love you for being you, not because you love me. So hold your head up a little higher, okay? It's just...I love you so much."

Tsukishima couldn't ruin this now. Not when Yamaguchi clearly had other things on his mind.

His boyfriend turned the sad smile into a more genuine one, nodding and leaning in closer, going in for a kiss. "I love you too."

The kiss was soft at first, but quickly turned passionate once Yamaguchi wrapped his arms around Tsukishima's neck, tugging on his hair softly. Tsukishima responded with wrapping his arms around his waist, pulling Yamaguchi on his lap.

 _'Next time,'_ he thought to himself. _'Next time, I'll tell him.'_


	7. The Beach pt. II - Tsuki & Yamaguchi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukishima tries to get a little 'couple time' into their vacation. How did he even end up being the leader of the Karasuno mafia?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING : This chapter includes SMUT.

"Ah-fuck! Yes, Akaashi-so fucking deep. Oh shit, right there! Fuck, you're so-so deep inside me-Akaashi! Aka-Akaa-ah shit-! Fuck! Keiji, yes! Yes, yes, fucking-I love you!"

Tsukishima gave Yamaguchi a small, sad smile, as they heard the bed frame on the other side of the wall hitting the wall on their side and making the floorboards creaking.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess," Tsukishima sighed with a sarcastic smile. "And say Bokuto-san's the bottom."

Yamaguchi laughed nervously, his cheeks pink nodding in agreement. "The walls are thin..."

Earlier, the two were about to get it on too until they heard a huge bang on the other side of the wall. At first they were concerned and wanted to see if anything was wrong, but once they heard moans and creaking on the bed they realized maybe it wasn't a good idea to barge in on them. They really thought the engaged couple would be done soon, but it's been an hour and a half and they were still at it.

"Let's let them go this time. Being engaged must be fun." Yamaguchi laughed and nodded, finding it a bit odd that Tsukishima was letting them go so easily, but didn't question it since he also didn't want to ruin the couple's time together.

"I'm cumming! Keiji, wait-I'm-I'm cumming, please-"

Tsukishima sighed, closing his eyes and trying to block out the sound, but it was no use. They were so loud - or, rather Bokuto was loud. He could barely hear Akaashi's grunts and moans.

"Fuck, Bokuto-san-"

Yamaguchi made a weird strangled sound, covering his ears this time when both of them started getting louder. They were both uncomfortable now, unable to get hard when there was a couple right next to them having rough sex, and by the sound of it, it was only getting rougher. It would definitely kill the mood to hear someone else moan another name from the other room.

"I mean, should we try?" Tsukishima suggested with a shrug. He felt like Yamaguchi was holding back too, having it been over a week since they last had sex. Before, that wasn't considered a long time, but ever since he found out Yamaguchi was holding out he couldn't help but be skeptical now about how honest Yamaguchi was.

"Will that be okay?" Yamaguchi asked sheepishly, but Tsukishima was already climbing on top of him, pining him down on the bed. He took his glasses off, placing them on the side, then leaned down, kissing Yamaguchi's neck to make him shiver and moan. It worked, Yamaguchi holding Tsukishima's shoulders and tilting his head back to give him more access.

"Mmm, you like that-""Fuck! Keiji!"

Tsukishima gritted his teeth as his dirty talk was interrupted, but ignored it, tugging on the bottom of Yamaguchi's shirt to help him get it off. He started kissing down his chest, licking down the middle before making his way to Yamaguchi's nipple.

"Ah, Tsuki! That feels-""Shit, Bokuto-san. Spread them more."

Tsukishima sighed and Yamaguchi grimaced. None of them were hard right now, even though they were getting somewhere just a few seconds ago. Yamaguchi giggled as he watched his boyfriend look so frustrated., bringing a hand up to Tsukishima's cheek, shaking his head.

"It's fine. As long as I'm with you, it's fine." Yamaguchi said reassuringly, kissing Tsukishima softly on the lips, which Tsukishima gladly accepted, kissing back.

Right then, the wall on the opposite side made a big 'bang' sound, grunts and moans coming from that side now too. There was a sloppy pop and soft pants before a slam to the wall erupted.

"Shit-Kage-boke! Be more gentle!""Shut the fuck up. I'm mad at you." There was a loud grunt then a big gasp before an obnoxiously heavy moan that just had to be Hinata's came out.

"Ah, fuck. Shit, Kage-ahhh, fuck, that feels good.""Come on, get tighter.""Who's fucking fault is it that I'm this loose!"

Tsukishima sighed as another pair of voices were added to their evening while Yamaguchi just laughed awkwardly as he turned red from his face to his neck. "Let's maybe find somewhere else to continue..."  
"Yeah."

The beach house also had a public bath. Now with a shirt, and Tsukishima with his glasses on, they made their way to the public bath, expecting no one to be there at 2 in the morning. 

Apparently, they weren't the only ones who thought that.

"Wa-Wait, Noya-kun! Someone might walk in-""Ehh, I told you to call me by my first name! And no one's gonna come in, it's 2 in the morning. The only person who's coming in here is gonna be you."

Tsukishima's eye twitched and Yamaguchi covered his as they walked into Nishinoya on his knees, holding Asahi's waist against the lockers of the change room for the public bath. Nishinoya's mouth was wide, about to take Asahi in one go, but the bigger male sensed a third and fourth party seconds later. His head turned ever so slowly before he was making eye contact with Tsukishima.

"Ah!" Asahi was quick to push Nishinoya away before taking a towel to cover himself up, which didn't necessarily work. Tsukishima now understood why Nishinoya was so desperate to get laid, by Asahi in particular.

"I-I'm so sorry! I'm-I didn't-mmm-" Asahi was red from his face to his abdomen before he was running past Tsukishima and Yamamguchi, bowing and sputtering apologies in shame. It all happened so fast that Nishinoya didn't process it until a few seconds after when Asahi was already gone.

"What the fuck?!" He screamed, stomping right up to Tsukishima and looking up at him, right in the eyes. "That was my chance! You ruined my fucking chance, asswipe!!"

Yamaguchi's eyes widened, wanting to defend Tsukishima, while Tsukishima stayed emotionless, not caring less if he ruined Nishinoya's chances at getting dick. Tsukishima was losing time with someone who actually wanted to fuck him.

"I finally got him to agree to a handjob-""That was not a hand job.""Yeah! That was _progress._ Now look where I am! Just-Argh!!!" Nishinoya screamed in frustration, gripping his hair which was currently down from getting wet. Yamaguchi watched as his friend had a little breakdown.

"It's okay, Noya. I mean, if he did it once, that means he'll do it again, right?" Nishinoya looked up at Yamaguchi, like he was trying to figure out how he wanted to react. He just scoffed and then sighed, calming down a bit.

"You're right," he replied with a small mumble, standing up straight again with a little more confidence. "It's not over. I still have the rest of the night!"

That wasn't where Yamaguchi was going but he didn't say anything, wanting Nishinoya to get out right now too. Nishinoya passed by them, pretty much striding with more confidence now. "Get ready, Asahi-san. I'll show you thunder tonight!"

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were alone now in the change room of the public bath, and even though it was truly empty and no one would come in for the rest of the night most likely, they both didn't move, just staring into the room.

"Tsuki, I don't wanna do it here when Noya just-""Yeah. Let's go."

The two ended up on the beach, walking hand in hand quietly. They tried going back to the bedroom, but not even down the hallway could they hear both couples going at it, loud moans and bed creaking. Tsukishima swore he even heard glass break.

"I'm sorry, Tsuki. I wanted this vacation to be more romantic."   
Tsukishima didn't say anything because _he_ was the one that should've been apologizing to Yamaguchi for being late and basically ignoring him the whole time. He didn't say it though.

"You're not cold?" Tsukishima ended up asking, looking out to the ocean and shivering a bit as the cold wind hit him, then looking down at Yamaguchi, who didn't seem to be all that affected by it. He even shook his head with a small smile.

"When I'm with Tsuki like this, my whole body feels so warm!"

Tsukishima was glad it was dark outside except for the light of the moon and stars, because he was honestly blushing so hard it made him sick. When Yamaguchi said things like that, how could he not?

"Tsuki, I-" Before he could finish the sentence, Tsukishima was already leaning in, kissing him hard. His hands found their way to Yamaguchi's waist as Yamaguchi's cupped Tsukishima's face, pulling him close as well. Yamaguchi still couldn't believe that after years of crushing, Tsukishima was finally his - and he sure kissed like it.

"Yamaguchi, there's something," Tsukishima panted softly as he pulled away. "Something I need to tell you-""Later." Yamaguchi dove in for another kiss, humming softly against Tsukishima's lips.

 _'Oh, well, I tried'_ Tsukishima thought to himself. He subconsciously put away the thought of telling Yamaguchi anything, trying to tell him in the worst time possible so he could tell himself that at least he tried.   
How much longer could he do that for though?

"Fuck, Yamaguchi..." Tsukishima pressed his body against Yamaguchi's, lowering himself on the sand and pulling Yamaguchi down with him. He rolled over so that Yamaguchi was on top of him, thumbing the waistband of Yamaguchi's shorts before pulling them down to his thighs. Yamaguchi whined as the cold air hit that part of the body, but he was quickly warmed up by Tsukishima's hands rubbing up and down his skin. 

"Tsu-Tsuki," he groaned softly, kissing down to his neck, his eyes dropping a bit as he felt Tsukishima touching him everywhere, groping him. It's been too goddamn long. 

"Wait, we don't have-""It's fine." Tsukishima reassured him, pulling off his own shorts as well to reveal his half hard cock. "I'll take care of it."

Tsukishima changed their position, so now Yamaguchi was on all fours and Tsukishima had a perfect view of Yamaguchi's ass under the moonlight. Anyone could see them right now, half naked on the beach, fully fucking. But Tsukishima decided that when you're on vacation, it was okay to be a little careless.

"Tsuki, come on. Faster." He knew Yamaguchi's whining was about not wanting to get caught, but Tsukishima chuckled darkly anyway, spitting down on Yamaguchi's hole. "Mmm, so impatient, Tadashi. What's wrong? Gotten a little frustrated this past week?"

Tsukishima then spit in his hand before stroking his own cock to lube it up. He had to spit a few more times before he felt it was enough to enter Yamaguchi, till then he focused on his boyfriend's pleasure by leaning over him and reaching with his other hand to Yamaguchi's chest, tweaking his nipples.

"You that cold, Tadashi?" Tsukishima whispered in his ear, flicking his nipple as he licked the back of Yamaguchi's ear. Yamaguchi shivered, shaking his head. "I-I told you. When I'm with you I get all warm everywhere."

Tsukishima had to bite his lip, pulling back so he could position himself towards Yamaguchi's entrance before slowly pushing himself in. The sudden intrusion made Yamaguchi gasp, groaning softly as he got used to it. The blond could see Yamaguchi fisting the sand, and with how tight Yamaguchi was he could only guess that Yamaguchi was in a bit of pain.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm here." He leaned over, kissing the back of Yamaguchi's neck, reaching for his hand and forcing it open so he could intertwine their fingers together. Yamaguchi turned his head to look at Tsukishima, and to his surprise, Yamaguchi gave him a big smile, so wide it was like the pain vanished completely.

"Kei," Yamaguchi called out softly. "I'm filled to the brim with happiness."

With a visible gulp and a question of self control, Tsukishima pushed himself all the way in. Yamaguchi squealed, shaking under Tsukishima while Tsukishima started to thrust in and out slowly. 

"Ah, Tsuki-sh-shi-" Yamaguchi grunted, shaking his head as he bit his lip, obviously not being able to contain his noises. Tsukishima chuckled softly, kissing Yamaguchi's forehead. Yamaguchi didn't swear, but it was cute to watch him try.

"Tadashi..." Tsukishima grunted, sticking with the slow pace he started with, taking his time as the deep strokes hit Yamaguchi in the right places. He had to be doing something right or else Yamaguchi wouldn't be struggling this much to control himself. In fact, this was probably the best reaction so far.   
Or maybe something was different. Something different with Tsukishima, not with Yamaguchi. Like there was less of a wall between them and now more like a curtain. All Tsukishima needed to do now was open it.

"Kei!" Yamaguchi moaned loudly, spreading his legs more, his pre-cum pooling down in the sand. Tsukishima reached forward and started stroking Yamaguchi's cock, stimulating him further, making Yamaguchi twitch and jerk under him. The whines and warnings got louder as Tsukishima thrusted harder, huffing each time Yamaguchi tightened around him.

"Kei! Kei, I'm gonna-I'm gonna-" Tsukishima bit down on Yamaguchi's shoulder as he came in his hand with a loud scream. Yamamguchi's whole body shook in Tsukishima's arms.   
It took a few minutes for Yamaguchi's high to ride down, Tsukishima taking care of him by stroking him slowly as well. Yamaguchi was still panting before he came back to the real world, turning to look at Tsukishima, a look of pure love and affection. Tsukishima just looked at him with a dirty smirk.

"Hey, Yamaguchi," Tsukishima whispered mischievously as he thrusted in Yamaguchi again, making the smaller man scream again. Since he was still sensitive, touching made him react even more, his noises louder than before.

"I didn't cum yet."

After another 2 rounds, Yamaguchi knocked out. It was a good thing they were by the water, so Tsukishima could easily clean the both of them off before carrying Yamaguchi back to the beach house. Going to their room wasn't that difficult, and it seemed like everyone was asleep since there were no more moans or beds creaking.  
Tsukishima tucked Yamaguchi in bed, letting him rest, then stepped out to find something to eat. Sex on the beach made him hungry.

When he walked down to the lounge of the beach house hoping to find some snacks, he was a bit surprised to see Akaashi there already, munching on some steamed pork buns laid out on the coffee table there. It seemed like he wasn't the only one out for a midnight snack.

"I'm shocked you're not tired," Tsukishima commented, going over to sit in front of Akaashi, watching as the leader of Fukurodani handed Tsukishima a bun and a bottle of water.

"I'm shocked you would have sex on the sand."

Tsukishima didn't react, biting into the bun silently. The silence hung around the room for a few minutes before Akaashi broke it.

"He doesn't know." Tsukishima didn't have to ask what Akaashi was talking about, nodding in reply. He didn't feel like having this talk, but when he remembered that Akaashi was the one who inherited Fukurodani, it made him curious as well about the relationship between Bokuto and him. Maybe he could give him some advice.

"How did...Was Bokuto-san born into the mafia as well?" Tsukishima asked, Akaashi remaining emotionless as the question came out.

"No, he wasn't."

There was no further explanation which made Tsukishima a little irritated, but he didn't show it. Akaashi must've sensed it though because he continued on after a full minute later.

"Bokuto-san made it quite obvious he wasn't going to leave me alone. And it seems like I have a thing for stupid people, so," Akaashi shrugged, leaning back in his seat as he looked at Tsukishima to see his reaction.

Tsukishima was a little confused at his logic, cocking his head a bit as he was thinking about the motive behind it. Akaashi must've understood such movements because he continued on before Tsukishima could ask.

"Tsukishima-san, what do you feel when you kill someone?"

The question threw Tsukishima off a bit, but again, he chose not to show his startled expression, answering straight forwardly.

"If the person deserves it, I feel fine. Good even, I suppose. Depending on the situation."

Akaashi nodded, and even smiled a bit if Tsukishima saw him properly. "For me, I feel nothing."

Akaashi's expression was blank again, a cold stare going through Tsukishima. It was the first time Tsukishima encountered someone as held back as him, as nonchalant, as mindful. It surprised him, but didn't intimidate him.

"To me, it's all the same. I could kill you right now and I wouldn't remorse." Akaashi was blunt, and Tsukishima didn't doubt him for even a second.

"But Bokuto-san, even back then, the thought of his heart stopping...it made mine stop too. So I decided that I would start at least thinking about the dead if I couldn't feel anything for them. Ever since then I've been running the mafia differently. I do it based on assets and interest. If people joining are only joining for their own benefit, they're no use to me. How do you choose your members, Tsukishima-san?"

Tsukishima had to think about it for a moment, trying to remember how he would recruit people back when he needed to, but now he had enough members to last him, even if half of them died.

"Skill. Precision. Will. I don't understand how it's so different from your methods."

Akaashi inhaled loudly, but didn't let it out for a moment, looking up like he was thinking. Thinking about how to explain this? Or thinking about how Tsukishima might be the rawest leader he's met so far.

"There's something about emotions that are odd," Akaashi looked back at Tsukishima, now surely smiling a bit. "They're everywhere, no matter how hard you suppress them."

It was weird, Tsukishima swore Takeda said something similar to that a while ago. For whatever reason, the statement made him stiffen, waiting for Akaashi to continue on.

"I was handed down the mafia, so I knew I was born to kill. Since it was my upbringing, I didn't feel anything. I didn't even feel anything when I got hurt because it was something I was trained to handle. I couldn't feel and I didn't care. Then something came into my life and that made me think. Those thoughts slowly turned into feelings, and those feelings have made me stronger. So even though I still can't feel anything when I kill someone, at least now I have a conscious, and even that much of a difference made my mafia stronger."

Tsukishima nodded, but could only understand so much. Akaashi went into the mafia with no heart, but Tsukishima's problem was different - he was slowly losing his to the mafia. 

"How did you get in?" Akaashi asked before Tsukishima could sort out his thoughts. It made Tsukishima snap his eyes back up, asserting eye contact with Akaashi. "Karasuno wasn't yours, right?"

Tsukishima barely nodded. He didn't like talking about it, but Akaashi seemed to be waiting for him to say something. It would be the first time he would say it out loud.

"The previous leader killed my brother," Tsukishima said with a blank stare. "So I killed the leader. Now, Karasuno is mine."

He remembered that night. The police knocking on Tsukishima's door, his parents have just gone out to get groceries. They explained the situation and confirmed the time of death.

"Your brother, was he actively involved in the mafia?" Tsukishima clenched his jaw and tightened his fists at the thought.

"No. He was just walking home."

Walking in the street from work, not knowing that a shootout was going to happen. Him, along with 3 other bystanders were shot and killed. Tsukishima was given the police statements, who the last people he saw were, what he was wearing - suspects of the shooting who fled the scene before the police could take them into custody.  
Tsukishima decided that night he was going to approach every single one of them, trying to figure out who it was, but out of rage and anger he ended up attacking each and every one of them.

That's when Kageyama joined.

He figured out which one did it, Tsukishima not hesitating to attack. Since he didn't know much about murdering people back then, he ended up just strangling him to death, getting caught by Ukai that same night. 

When Tsukishima claimed the previous Karasuno leader's life, the news spread like wildfire. The members of Karasuno wanted vengeance, wanting to bring Tsukishima down. But how could they?

Quiet, intelligent, straight A student Tsukishiima Kei, who just lost his brother to a mafia leader. Reserved, bright, soft Tsukishima Kei, who played volleyball after school with his friends and attended cram school to make sure he had top grades. Tsukishima Kei, a _young_ , innocent soul, an honor roll student who was just starting law school. 

Tsukishima Kei - How could it possibly be him?

Almost every mafia member was arrested or shot by Tsukishima himself, and next thing he knew he had the option to rise as the strongest mafia in Japan, starting from the bottom up. He had the title, the rights - how could he not? For every bastard that thought it was okay to mess with his family, he wouldn't hesitate. For every shithead who thought it was okay to kill whoever they could, he would throw a knife and take them down.

Before he knew it, he was power hungry, darkly driven, and in far too deep to swim back up for air. 

Tsukishima Kei - How could they miss it?

"So you don't understand," Tsukishima said softly. "The position I'm in. Your position was inevitable, but I _chose_ my spot in the mafia. That's why I can't do things so carelessly. I have to think and think and think until my head is on fire and I can't think anymore. I can't kill without feeling anything because I know what it feels like to die. You think I had time to regret? It's a waste now - and emotions take up that time. It'd be better to not bring them in."

Akaashi's problem was that he needed more feelings. Tsukishima's was that he had too many. Both of them ended up showing none at all.

"If I was born into this life, maybe it would've been easier. Maybe I could explain myself better." 

Akaashi didn't need context - he knew what Tsukishima was referring to.

"But this was my choice. My decision. How do I explain that to him?" 

Saying it out loud didn't make it better, but it did make Tsukishima breath a little bit easier Akaashi just watched him, exploding for what seemed to be the first time. Even still, both their faces showed no emotion, now just staring at each other.

He thought of what must've driven Tsukishima's excitement to attack MUZURU CORP so quickly now. The stalkings happening, MUZURU CORP must've had photos of not only Tsukishima, but Yamaguchi too. To drag someone who didn't know what was going on in, it was the sickest attack.   
Effective, but sick.  
Akaashi could think about it, but he couldn't understand it. He couldn't put himself in such a situation because he didn't ask to be the leader of Fukurodani - the position was handed to him. And he did a damn good job running the place.

"I can't help you with that," Akaashi ended up saying, standing up as well. The conversation seemed like it was ending. 4 AM and all Tsukishima had accomplished was feeling like a shitty pile of shit.   
Did talking make it better? He wasn't sure.

"Bokuto stayed with me once I told him. He said he would do anything he could to protect me. But telling you that, I'm just bragging, aren't I?"

Tsukishima looked up at Akaashi, watching as Akaashi cleaned up their garbage, and put everything away. It was bragging, but the look in Akaashi's face was suggesting something else that Tsukishima couldn't read.

He stood as well, figuring that he should be walking back to his room too, Akaashi walking beside him. As they separated, Akaashi turned to Tsukishima and bowed to him, Tsukishima doing the same in response.

"Yamaguchi-kun...seems to like you." Akaashi said softly, his tone hushed like it was a secret between the two of them. "A lot."

Tsukishima wished he could understand Akaashi better.


	8. The Beach pt. III - Asahi & Nishinoya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beach weekend is over and the 8 of them are ready to go home already. Yamaguchi gets a tiny taste of what Tsukishima deals with in the mafia and Nishinoya proves just how much he likes Asahi.

"Yamaguchi, I am _so_ sorry for last night! I told that dumb bitch Kageyama that we needed to be quieter!"  
"No, no, it's okay! Tsuki and I managed."  
"Well at least you two fuckers got _laid_ last night. Asahi-san didn't even sleep beside me.

The three of them were sitting outside on the patio of the beach house, sipping on cold drinks and having some breakfast provided by the beach house. It was a coincidence all of them went down at the same time, but they were glad for the extra company.

"Maybe, Noya, you should be a little gentler with him," Yamaguchi laughed softly, watching as his sad friend was banging his head on the table, a little too aggressively. Hinata had a mouth full of pork bun at that moment, but it didn't stop him from chiming in.

"Yeah. Every time you scream at him he flinches. Every time you scream actually, it doesn't even have to be at him. You should stop that." Nishinoya just banged his head harder on the table, clearly frustrated by the lack of interest Asahi showed in romance with him. He didn't know what he was doing wrong despite literally everyone telling him it was how intense he was. 

"But that's what I'm like! If he doesn't like that side of me, then he doesn't like me at all!" Nishinoya said firmly, slamming his fist down on the table with a stronger expression on his face.  
"Okay, then move on."   
His sulking face came back and Nishinoya was back to where he started, slamming his head on the table. "It's not that easy..."

"Hey, hey, hey! This where all the bottoms are sitting? Mind if I join?" Bokuto came up to their table, a wide smile on his face as he greeted them. They all nodded and moved to make room for Bokuto, calling one of the servers so that he could get something to drink and eat as well. He ended up sitting between Hinata and Yamaguchi.

"Didn't know you were so freaky, Yamaguchi my man," Bokuto said with a teasing voice, pulling Yamaguchi in a side hug from his seat, rubbing his knuckles in his head. The gesture made Yamaguchi suffocate a little, and a bit uncomfortable, but he laughed still, turning a bit red. 

"What are you talking about?""You fucked on the beach last night, didn't you? Akaashi pointed it out! Thought he was messing with me, but once we saw those glasses, we knew! I mean, who else would fuck with glasses on?"

Yamaguchi's whole face and neck went red, about to protest, but protest what? It happened, and it wasn't like he was shy about being intimate with Tsukishima, he and Hinata talked about that stuff often.   
But they were caught on the beach. He didn't think he saw anyone, but he guessed the windows of the beach house let you see the beach too - 'beach house'.

"Ah, you-you saw that? Well, it was just-""You _fucked_ on the _beach_?" Nishinoya asked, almost angrily, making Yamaguchi flinch, watching as his friend began to pierce a stare into him. Yamaguchi got flustered again, shaking his hands in protest.

"It wasn't planned! We couldn't find a place-""Oh, _boohoo._ 'Look at me! I'm poor Yamaguchi Tadashi, unable to find a place to get fucked.'" Nishinoya mocked, crossing his arms and huffing. "At least you got some last night. A very rude couple interrupted my luckiness last night." 

Yamaguchi scratched the back of his head, chuckling nervously. "Oh, yeah. Sorry about that..."

Nishinoya pursed his lips and nodded at Yamaguchi, pointing his finger at him. "You are forgiven! In exchange, you better help me win Asahi-san's heart!" Yamaguchi's eyes went wide when Nishinoya asked - more so demanded - he help him to get Asahi to like him. He was shocked at first but a determined face showed on seconds later and Yamaguchi nodded firmly in agreement.  
"Of course! Asahi-san won't know what hit him!"

Nishinoya practically beamed, seeming in a much better mood than before, now scarfing food down as well along with Hinata. Bokuto started adding into the conversation as well, happily interacting with the younger ones.

"We're planning on having a small wedding, so if you wanted to come," Bokuto said, looking at all 3 of them. "It'll be much more entertaining seeing us in suits, won't it?

Hinata and Nishinoya laughed, but Yamaguchi cocked his head, looking over at Bokuto. "But it's your wedding. Hinata, I understand, but us...what about your university friends and stuff?"

Yamaguchi didn't see it, but Hinata and Nishinoya were exchanging glances at each other while Bokuto kept his smile despite doing equations in his brain to make up a deliberate lie. 

"Ah, well, you know. We finished university already, so..." Yamaguchi nodded, even though that really didn't really explain anything. "Where do you work, Bokuto-san? I heard you studied architecture."

Now that Tsukishima wasn't there to intercept, Yamaguchi was able to ask questions comfortably like this. He did think that Bokuto and Akaashi were good people, and that's why he wanted to talk to them and learn more about them. That's how you made friends, wasn't it?

"Yeah, I study blueprints! Approve of them and stuff. I don't make them though, that's for the advance people." Bokuto answered smoothly, prepared for answering basic questions like this because people asked him all the time, so he was confident no question would throw him off.

"Oh, that's interesting. So between you and Akaashi, who's the leader?

All three of them snapped their heads and looked at him, their eyes wide.   
Leader? Leader of...Yamaguchi couldn't know. Did Tsukishima spill something while drunk? No, Tsukishima didn't drink much last night, and even if he did he didn't sputter out nonsense like Hinata or Nishinoya.  
Did he overhear a conversation? They were sure to make it as discrete as possible, not talking about it openly so Yamaguchi - or Asahi - wouldn't ask followup questions.  
Maybe Tsukishima actually did tell him everything. But in that case, wouldn't he be asking more questions and show much more emotions than that. Besides, could Tsukishima really go into detail about Fukurodani in one night?

"Leader? What are you talking about?" Bokuto asked casually, but Nishinoya was able to hear the slight strain in his voice.

Yamaguchi stared at him for brief second, like he was determining whether or not to say something or question him more. That brief second felt like a whole hour, the three of them wondering what Yamaguchi was going to say.

"Well, I overheard Tsuki and Kageyama talking about something with a leader and how they weren't sure. Maybe I heard wrong? I was half asleep..."

The three of them shared looks with each other before all of them burst out in forced laughter, trying to look natural in the most unnatural way possible.

"Ah, uh, you know," Hinata started off. "'Leader' is a...slang word! For who 'tops' in the relationship. Yeah.." he trailed off, Nishinoya and Bokuto nodding in agreement to back Hinata up.

"Yeah! Everyone is saying it now! That's why sometimes we'll tease Tsukishima and call him 'leader, leader!'" Nishinoya laughed nervously, anxiously looking at Yamaguchi to watch and see if he would buy it.

Yamaguchi raised an eyebrow at all the weird acting, but nodded slowly, figuring it was just him that was looking at them weird. "Ah, I see," he nodded his head slowly, looking back at Bokuto.  
"So I guess Akaashi-san is the 'leader' then." It was a joke, but the accuracy threw them off for a moment before Bokuto laughed loudly. Genuine or not it startled Yamaguchi.   
"Yup! Akaashi...is...the leader."

There was an awkward silence between the four of them, Yamaguchi not asking any more questions since no one else was conversing. Nishinoya sent a glance to Bokuto, Bokuto sending one back, then they both looked at Hinata.  
Yamaguchi was thrown out of the loop, but he didn't even seem to notice.

Next thing he knew, arms went around Yamaguchi's neck, making him jump but then relaxed when he turned and saw a sleepy but awake Tsukishima, bed hair and crumpled clothes on.  
"Morning."

Kageyama went over to Hinata, pulling up a chair and sitting next to him ; Bokuto started feeding Akaashi some of the breakfast ; Yamaguchi insisted on sitting on Tsukishima's lap even though there were many unused chairs Tsukishima could pull up, but he gave in, too tired to argue ; and Nishinoya...was frantically looking around, turning his head side to side, behind and even stood up.

"Where's Asahi-san?" He asked, practically whimpering. Kageyama looked up at him, raising an eyebrow but replied with a passive voice. "Helping an old lady carry her bag to the bus stop. He said he'll come back as quick as he could."

Nishinoya sulked more, sitting back down and hitting his head on the table a few more times, lighter this time because he could feel his skin turning red with how many times he's done this this morning.  
"Dammit. I can't even get mad at that."

The other three couples didn't spend too much time or attention on Nishinoya's sad love story, instead focusing on each other now, making sure everyone was packed and ready to leave. Asahi didn't show up for breakfast.

"Alright, everything's here?" Akaashi was checking off their luggage one by one, making sure no one forgot anything. Asahi did end up coming back after explaining how the old lady was trying to pay him for his service but he kept refusing which resulted in a shop owner thinking Asahi was assaulting the old lady. It became an issue that Asahi had to quickly clear up and it made Nishinoya even more frustrated that he couldn't get mad.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," Tsukishima nodded, counting how many luggage there were one more time before nodding his head. "Yeah, that should be fine. No one is forgetting anything?"

The 8 of them were first on the bus, having a good 45 minutes to spare before the bus was scheduled to leave, so no one else was around at this time. They decided to go a little earlier since the beach house seemed to be getting busier and they didn't want to hit the big crowd of tourist. Instead, they decided to spend some time in the air conditioned bus after the bus driver agreed to leave it open for them. "Just make sure no one else comes in, okay?" The bus driver joked before going to get some food for himself.

So now the 8 of them were sitting in the bus, the same spots as before, just this time Asahi and Nishinoya weren't talking. For whatever reason, no one could tell - whether it was Nishionya's stubbornness or Asahi's shyness they couldn't quite decipher the reason, but the point was that they were both awfully quiet.   
It was awfully nerve wracking.

"Uhm, I think I'm gonna go get some water.." Asahi said but Bokuto was quick in response. "I have some water, bunhead! Here!" Asahi gave an uncomfortable smile, laughing nervously before shaking his head a bit in refusal.  
"Did I say water? I meant to say fruits. I didn't eat breakfast so..."

They all looked at him, managing to get the message as Asahi made his way to the front of the bus and getting off. "Just make sure to come back before we leave!" Akaashi called out to him, but he was pretty sure Asahi didn't hear him.

Nishinoya groaned, hitting his head against the seat in front of him. "This is my fault..." he mumbled, hitting his head a few more times. Tsukishima wanted to tell him he was going to lose even more brain cells if he did that, but Yamaguchi was quicker to speak.

"Don't say that, Noya. I'm sure he's just shy about it. You don't have to beat yourself up like this," Yamaguchi reassured him, but Nishinoya didn't seem to hear since he kept banging his head, now pulling his hair. Hinata thought he heard a faint, 'I'm gonna be bald in September...' come from him, but he didn't comment on it.

"Besides, Asahi-san probably never dated before," Yamaguchi added on. "He's probably like this at first, but if you keep persisting-""Thanks Yama-kun, but I don't think anything would make me feel better right now." Nishinoya cut him off, sighing softly and looking up at the other 6, who also seemed to be concerned for Nishinoya's well being, all for different reasons, but nonetheless concerned.  
"Really. Thank you."

Everyone fell silent for a bit, unsure how to carry on the conversation from there, but it didn't seem to matter.

In a matter of minutes there was loud stomping coming up the stairs of the bus, more than one person approaching. Instinctively, the Karasuno and Fukurodani members stood, becoming all of a sudden alert at who was coming on the bus.

A man dressed in all black with a ski-mask was there, holding Asahi by the collar and a gun to his head.

"Everyone down!" The masked man screamed, Asahi clearly shaking in his grip. Everyone got down, Yamaguchi and Hinata shivering and putting their arms over their heads while the mafia members hesitantly looked at each other before slowly dropping down.

Well, most of them.

"Tsuki, get down!" Yamaguchi whispered urgently, looking up at his boyfriend who didn't even flinch. "Just do what he says!"   
Almost like a switch, Tsukishima looked down at Yamaguchi and his face turned into one of realization, softening and nodding as he slowly dropped to the ground. Nishinoya, Kageyama, Tsukishima and Akaashi were all able to peer behind the chairs to see what was happening, the man with the gun closing the bus doors before walking slowly towards them. Asahi was being dragged by the neck collar, choking and whimpering lamely as his eyes watered.  
Nishinoya clenched his fists hard, but didn't get up.

"I have orders! If you don't tell me who I'm looking for, I'll kill all of you!"

No one had a weapon, and Tsukishima didn't have enough time to think of a smart way to deal with this. If Yamaguchi wasn't here, he wouldn't have hesitated to get into the action and attack with Nishinoya and Kageyama - but now not only was Yamaguchi here, but Asahi who was being held hostage right in front of them.

"Tell me before I shoot!" There was a click of the safety button, the tip of the gun digging into Asahi's temple, this man clearly not caring who he was about to kill - he really was willing to kill all 8 of them.

"Asahi-san!"  
"Nishinoya, wait-"

Whether it was instinct or will, it wasn't clear, but Nishinoya rose from the ground, sprinting down the bus towards the man who had Asahi. The aim quickly shifted, pointing the gun right at Nishinoya before 2 shots were fired straight at him. 

Yamaguchi heard a scream and a grunt, then a body dropped to the floor, but couldn't see anything, and frankly didn't want to. But if it was Nishinoya in trouble, the distress increased and he wanted to do something to help. Call the police? It was an idea, but Yamaguchi was just frozen in place feeling useless, not being able to do anything in the end.

"Nishinoya!"

Nishinoya was shot in the shoulder twice, but he was quick in his sprint and was able to grab the masked man's wrist, changing the aim of the gun to point to the ceiling. Nishinoya elbowed him in the chin, causing him to loosen his grip on Asahi, who fell on the ground right away. Next thing he knew, Nishinoya was still attacking him, elbowing his stomach next then back kicking his shin. His grip didn't loosen on the gun though, trying to get it to aim at someone else, but Nishinoya was doing a good job at preventing that to happen.

From where he stood, Nishinoya did a high kick, kicking the masked man in the face first. When his leg was in the air he hooked it onto the man's shoulder, using it as leverage before hooking his other leg on his other shoulder, now completely on the man, still holding onto the arm where the gun was. In this position, Nishinoya was able to badly twist this man's wrist.

Nishinoya on his shoulders made him lose balance, falling backwards and hitting his head on the ground, almost immediately having blood splattering out. Nishinoya thought he was unconscious but then there was a fast movement and the man was holding the gun at his thigh.

"Nishinoya!"

Tsukishima couldn't stand it anymore, running towards the scene, not caring about who saw right now. Nishinoya was about to take too many bullets and he was just standing there. What kind of leader would do such a thing?

"Tsuki, no!"   
Hinata jumped over the chair separating them, landing beside Yamaguchi and crushing him into a bearhug so that whatever went down, he wouldn't have to see anything. He wasn't told to do this, and he didn't even know if it was necessary or a good idea, but he felt like he needed to and didn't want Yamaguchi to watch Tsukishima in this state without any explanation. It would probably traumatize him.

The trigger was pulled again.

"Fuck!" There was another gun shot, right in Nishinoya thigh. He was already feeling light headed after losing so much blood from his shoulder, but he was determined to get this guy down so he wouldn't hurt Asahi. 

Tsukishima was behind him now, Kageyama following, hovering over the masked man. Since Nishinoya already had him pinned down, all Tsukishima had to do was step on his wrist, forcing him to loosen his grip on the gun. Kageyama was walking to this man's head, taking the mask off, revealing a middle aged man, now bleeding on the floor and losing consciousness by the second. 

Kageyama recognized the man as someone from MUZURU CORP, but he couldn't think of a name right now, especially when there was too much going on. Instead he looked over at Tsukishima, asking quietly with his facial expression.

_'Do we kill him?'_

Tsukishima looked back at him then at the others on the bus. Akaashi and Bokuto were already watching them, Hinata and Yamaguchi haven't gotten up and Asahi had fainted a long time ago on the side. Nishinoya was breathing heavily, holding the shoulder that got shot and trying to stay awake before he lost more blood.

Tsukishima gave a small nod, handing the gun to Kageyama, and sounding one final gun shot. 

The 8 of them found a spot under a tree to go to, Akaashi being the one to tend to Nishinoya's wounds. He made sure to tighten some cloth around the places he was shot to stop the blood flow as much as possible, and Kageyama helped by buying some supplies they could make due with for now. He bought a small sewing kit, some plastic gloves and a pocket knife, had to find some alcohol spray at another store, then food and water for when Nishinoya regained some consciousness. 

Nishinoya was laying there, eyes closed but breathing as Akaashi used the disinfected pocket knife to open the wound and get the bullet out with his hands. He used the plastic gloves to make sure Nishinoya wouldn't get infected, and even though it was risky and bloody, they had no choice. Akaashi found the bullets, making it in time before they got deeper into Nishinoya's body, then started sewing him up again. Even though it wasn't a hospital, it worked, and Nishinoya's wounds were patched up within 30 minutes. He would need professional treatment eventual, but for now this was the best option. Now they just had to wait for him to wake up.

Not too far from them, they could hear it. Not word for word, but they could hear it enough that they knew what they were talking about. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were fighting - loudly.

"The police should be here! He had a _gun_ , Tsuki."  
"Nishinoya's fine and that guy's dead now anyway. We'll figure something out when Nishinoya wakes up."  
"Noya got shot and you're acting like nothing happened! He's unconscious and might not wake up for a long time. Let's call the police now and let them deal with it! This seems like something we need to report, and Noya needs professional treatment."  
"Akaashi-san is doing fine on his own."  
"Are you _joking_? Noya got shot _three times_ and you're going to let him lay there?"  
"I said he's fine! He didn't die, did he?"

Yamaguchi was confused. Frustrated, irritated, scared and confused. He didn't understand why Tsukishima was acting like calling the police would make things worse - the job of the police was to make things better. Especially in a time like this when an innocent bystander was shot. He didn't know that the man with the gun was shot dead too, assuming he died of blood loss when Nishinoya tackled him down - which he would ask many questions about later - but right now he believed Nishinoya deserved an actual hospital and not some DIY care kit everyone was giving him.  
That too - he didn't understand why no one else was insisting they should call the police. Was everyone too shocked? Was this an instinctive reaction?   
He was so shaken up he wasn't sure which feeling was stronger - fear or confusion.

Tsukishima knew. And Kageyama and Hinata and Bokuto and Akaashi and if Nishinoya was awake so would he. If the police were called then there would questions. Questions required answers. Answers required the truth, and Tsukishima wasn't ready to face that.  
The man who died, Kageyama handled without causing too many questions from Yamaguchi by simply saying 'it doesn't matter' then mysteriously walking off silently. Luckily, Yamaguchi's current concern was getting professional, medical help for Nishinoya, and even that wasn't looking too good.

"Tsuki," Yamaguchi said firmly, looking straight into Tsukishima's eyes, which Tsukishima tried avoiding, but finding it impossible when Yamaguchi was so determined to get Tsukishima to look at him properly. Finally, when their eyes locked, Yamaguchi's expression turned stern and hard.

"I'm not stupid."

Tsukishima stiffened. He tried to look into Yamaguchi's face to figure out what he was saying. He wanted to find an answer when he didn't even ask a question. Tsukishima just sighed softly.

"I know that."

There was a brief look of frustration in Yamaguchi's face, but he took a deep breath to calm his nerves, shaking his head and trying again with his serious expression. His eyes focused on Tsukishima.

 _"I'm not_ _stupid."_ He took another deep breath, like he was holding back a sob. "So please stop acting like I am."

His tone more firm and urgent, toughening out in a way Tsukishima has never heard before. For a moment, his eyes widened, almost giving away his current position, but he couldn't say anything in response. 

If he told Yamaguchi now, where would things go? If he said something now, what would happen? This wasn't how he wanted Yamaguchi finding out, but it seemed like there was nowhere to run anymore. He had to say something or else this might be their last conversation. He needed to say something, even if it was the very thing that would drive Yamaguchi away.   
If Yamaguchi were to leave him, what would he do? A thought that Tsukishima has avoided up until now. Every time it came up, thinking of Yamaguchi leaving him, he couldn't finish it off. It went to show just how much he cared and loved Yamaguchi which scared him significantly more than a few bullets to the head.

"I called the police," Bokuto stepped in, not interrupting anything since Tsukishima held back. They both turned to look at Bokuto, equally confused, but Yamaguchi was relieved seconds later.

"Thank you, Bokuto-san. That makes me feel better." Tsukishima gave him a questioning look, but Bokuto returned a reassuring nod, even winking at him. Since that issue seemed to be cleared up, Tsukishima needed to think of other answers to possible questions Yamaguchi had for later. Right now, Yamaguchi was crying on the ground, probably worn out and full of emotions with what was happening.  
A twinge of guilt surged through Tsukishima.

In a few minutes there was a police car, blaring the siren loudly in the small town they were in. Since it was the middle of the day, it definitely raised some heads around from where Tsukishima could see, but everyone went back to their business quickly.

An officer stepped out wearing a very official uniform and sunglasses holding a pen and notepad, his badge shining in the sun. He was tall and broad in build, his black hair spiked up, almost too lazily for even an officer, and he wore an unsettling smirk as he walked up to them. Tsukishima made a face when he realized he was the only officer there.

_'Does he know that officers are supposed to travel in pairs?'_

"Officer Kuroo Tetsurou. What seems to be the problem here?" He asked, his tone too laid back and Tsukishima was pretty sure he got that line from a TV show. Bokuto played along though, explaining the situation, loud enough so Yamaguchi could hear, but keeping it very vague.   
'Officer Kuroo' nodded along, scribbling things on his notepad and saying into his walkie talkie 'no need for backup, I've got everything here', but Tsukishima knew he wasn't talking to anyone.

"Wait, what about the ambulance?" Yamaguchi asked in a small voice, getting up and following the 'officer'. That seemed to be his main concern above anything, getting Nishinoya proper help. 

'Officer Kuroo' looked back at him then down at Nishinoya who was still laying unconscious. He pretended to inspect him, then gave Yamaguchi a smile and a thumbs up.

"No worries, kid. He's fine. Your friend here patched him up nicely." Yamaguchi stared at the 'officer' dumbfound, and he swore he heard someone facepalm behind him but he didn't look to make sure.

"But-But he got shot-""Mhm, happens all the time! No worries, I'll drive him to the hospital myself!" 'Officer Kuroo' picked up Nishinoya effortlessly in a way that made Yamaguchi let out a strangled whimper. The uniform must've fooled him because he could've sworn cops couldn't be this incompetent. 

"Uhm, but he's shot-""Trust me, I'm a cop." 'Officer Kuroo' cut him off, speed walking to the 'cop car' and basically throwing Nishinoya in the back, causing another strangled sound to come from Yamaguchi's throat.  
Was he the only one seeing this?

"Oh, and tell you friend there when he wakes up to drink water. Hot days like this can get to him, yeah?" Yamaguchi looked over to Asahi, who was still knocked out from fainting earlier at the scene. Before Yamaguchi could look back the cop car was already gone, driving away in the distance and he couldn't even protest. Everyone just watched along.

Maybe he wasn't alone though because Hinata was also confused. Or he seemed like it until he whispered something in Kageyama's ear and Kageyama whispered back. Hinata nodded in realization and went back to normal, which Yamaguchi was jealous and angry at.

So Kageyama could say something but Tsukishima couldn't?

"Yamaguchi, I have your lug-""I'm taking a taxi home." He huffed between clenched teeth, looking back at Tsukishima who was holding both their bags, then yanked his out of his hand. If he was going for shocking Tsukishima, it worked, because the blond stood there with wide eyes and a confused face that matched Yamaguchi's just minutes before.

"So, we'll take the taxi together-?""No. I'm going alone." 

Yamaguchi began storming off, going to the side of the road to wait for a taxi, but since it was a pretty remote town he might've had to wait a while. So he started walking, Tsukishima following him behind a few steps away.   
Yamaguchi was going to get into a taxi and drive away without Tsukishima, and even though he didn't know what would come next he would definitely do something else!

"Wait, Yamaguchi-" Yamaguchi slapped Tsukishima's hand away when it tried to hold his, turning back and glaring at him. Tsukishima's eyes went wide again, both their hearts beating rapidly, and though they didn't know it, in sync.

"If you're not going to tell me the truth then don't talk to me at all."

It threw Tsukishima off. He didn't know what to say, or to do. Yamaguchi stood there, staring at Tsukishima for a full minute, like he was waiting for him to say something back.  
No - he was giving Tsukishima a chance.

When no words came out of Tsukishima's mouth, Yamaguchi just scoffed, shaking his head and turning around.

_"I'm not stupid."_

Tsukishima watched Yamaguchi's back, his feet frozen in place as he walked down the street, getting smaller and smaller. He couldn't scream, he couldn't run, he couldn't even cry.  
He just watched. Standing. Still.

"I know that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! When I post this it's June 8 2020 and a lot of things are happening in the world. Being able to write fanfiction like this makes me look forward to do something and takes my mind off of things. I just wanted to take the time to wish everyone happy days and strength for tomorrows. To anyone who reads this, please stay safe so that we can enjoy these fictional stories together! Life is much more fun when we get along and are together with each other. Even if it's just a little bit of time, please focus on yourselves as well and make sure you take care of yourselves.  
> Thank you so much for reading my stories! I wish the best for your futures!


	9. Hunting Season

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukishima hasn't been able to talk to Yamaguchi these past few days, but that doesn't mean he has time to be depressed about it. He meets members from Dateko mafia and might even have another alliance on his hands.

"Nishinoya-kun just woke up. He's still a little hazy but I'm sure he'll manage. Make sure he eats properly and drinks water - he lost a lot of blood back there."

Tsukishima gave the directions to their warehouses to Kuroo so he could bring Nishinoya there and let him rest till they got professional help. It was only an hour drive, so Tsukishima called Kiyoko to come over and make sure Nishinoya got proper supplies worked on his body. Tanaka also came, but didn't do much, just prayed over his body and chanted some weird words that Tsukishima didn't want to know the meaning to.

"He won't die," Kiyoko reassured all of them softly back when she was restitching his wounds. "With where the bullets hit the only way he could've died is by blood loss. He was really lucky this time though - any longer he would've definitely...you know."

All of them let out a sigh of relief, and Tanaka sobbed. He ended up not leaving Nishinoya's side for the rest of the evening till Nishinoya woke up. When he did finally wake he was still sort of out of it, confused as to where he was and probably didn't remember right away what happened.

"Where's..." Kageyama and Tanaka leaned closer to him, waiting for Nishinoya to say his first words after waking up. "Where's...Asahi-san?"

There was a sigh from both of them, realizing Nishinoya was perfectly fine if that was his first question. Kageyama just walked away while Tanaka stayed, but he didn't know what happened so he couldn't answer.  
It was Tsukishima who walked over from across the room and answered Nishinoya's question.

"He fainted but woke up hours ago. Hinata sent him home and is keeping him company for now since he seems really shaken up," he explained. Asahi was very confused when he woke up, asking a lot of questions which everyone dismissed quickly.  
"When you feel better you can see him. For now just eat."

Akaashi, Bokuto and Kuroo all left already, saying they'll look more into what happened and try and track down what was going. They weren't even totally sure who the man's target was at the time since there were 2 mafia leaders on the bus, but it was possible he unknowingly needed both.

Kuroo, Tsukishima learned, was one of Akaashi's men who went in and out of different mafias all while running his own. Tsukishima was surprised when Kuroo admitted he was the leader of 'Nekoma', not expecting Kuroo's business to be so close to his own.  
"I thought the leader was named Kenma," Tsukishima told him, which Kuroo responded with a big laugh, nodding.  
"Yeah, well, if I'm in and out of different mafias all the time I can't exactly be the leader of one. He just covers for me when I'm not around." 

Now with Nishinoya awake and Hinata reporting on Asahi's condition every few hours, Tsukishima was back to his own personal problems. Yamaguchi hadn't contact him the whole night, not even a small, passive aggressive text that said he made it home safe.   
Tsukishima was getting more and more worried, staring at his phone anxiously.

"Why don't you just call him first?" Kageyama pointed out, noticing his leader didn't take his eyes off the phone even once that night, and the next morning's hours were approaching faster than he thought.

Tsukishima shook his head, the time now being 11:55 PM and still no message. It's been hours and Yamaguchi showed no sign of contact.  
"If I call first he's going to pick up for sure and I don't want that," Tsukishima explained, gritting his teeth. "He's not some doll I drag around. He's my boyfriend."

It's been pointed out to him before by obnoxious, nosy people - especially by Nishinoya and Tanaka - how sometimes their relationship looked more like a fan idolizing their hero. Yamaguchi spent a lot of time following around Tsukishima and tried to get his attention, and even though that was true before they started dating, Tsukishima had been putting a lot of effort to make sure that wasn't the case anymore. And he thought it worked, he really did. 

"He has to talk to me willingly. Not just because I want him to."

No one bothered Tsukishima after that, and Tsukishima didn't go home. He claimed he was staying with Nishinoya and making sure he was okay, but everyone knew the real reason - just no one said it out loud.

3 days later and still no contact from Yamaguchi. Asahi came to visit Nishinoya with a homemade meal, handing feeding it to him which made the smallest mafia member beam like the sun. Kageyama swore Nishinoya was vibrating.

"I can't tell you a lot about it, but this is what I do for a living. Something dangerous like this," he heard Nishinoya tell Asahi in a soft voice, clearly scared about how Asahi would react. They all agreed that it was best to tell Asahi as much as they could or else he might go to the police wanting more answers. Nishinoya would be the one to explain.  
"I don't get hurt! I'm one of the best in the business! But I want you to know because I don't want you to get hurt, and-and I can't have you running around telling everyone. Please Asahi-san, understand. I want you safe and the only way I can protect you is if you keep this a secret and not ask me too many questions. For now, at least. In the future I can tell you more and more, but at this moment, I can't and I'm sorry."  
Tsukishima could see the gears in Asahi's brain turning and smoke coming out of his ears, most likely weighing out the different possibilities. After several minutes of thinking, Asahi nodded and broke the silence.

"If it's to protect you too, Noya-kun, I won't say anything I'm not supposed to." Asahi was blushing, but his expression was the most determined than ever. "I want to stay by your side if I could be any help!"  
"Asahi-san!"

Tsukishima looked away and sulked when they hugged each other.

Was it really that easy? Was that all Tsukishima had to say? Has he been holding back all this time for nothing? Considering how much Yamaguchi liked him, based on Asahi's reaction Yamaguchi would've probably asked to _join_ the mafia too so he could be by Tsukishima's side. 

Has he been wasting all these years of being together, just to find out it was this easy? Now Tsukishima really had no other excuse besides his cowardliness tendencies.

On day 5, Nishinoya went home, carried by Asahi on his back which Nishinoya seemed too ecstatic about. Nishinoya managed to convince Tsukishima to go home too and take a shower because staying at the warehouse wouldn't do him any good. They compromised, Tsukishima agreeing to go home for a few hours but he would come back and do research further into the case. Nishinoya just rolled his eyes in reply.

Even though Tsukishima had no leads and Akaashi and Bokuto were going to contact him when they do, Tsukishima couldn't find anything else to do. Yamaguchi wasn't calling him and he couldn't bring himself to call first, so the only thing he could do was work.

Everything he had was useless though. He shot Tanaka Shu already, Asami Muzuru was a little bitch that hasn't been seen in days, and Tanaka Saiki was still allegedly missing. The man on the bus who had Asahi at his gun was found in several photos Nishinoya took back when this all started. Apparently he was desperate to keep his family alive.

Tsukishima couldn't take it, rummaging through his papers and trying to at least make a few connections. He drew red lines everywhere, pinning up pictures and writing down notes.

_'If Saiki is 'missing' then that means he was important to the business too. Shu was the one sent to follow me though, so they were willing to sacrifice him. Asami...Asami is running everything? But what does he even want...'_

He wasn't going anywhere with his thoughts, running around in circles, and frankly, he wasn't even sure what he was looking for anymore. At this point he was pretty sure he was just looking for a distraction.

One came though, when his phone finally rang and it was Akaashi's name on his screen. He picked it up right on the first ring.

"Akaashi-san?"  
"Dateko." Tsukishima recognized the name as another mafia, but didn't understand at first what Akaashi meant by it.

"Dateko was taken down. They have their leader."

Tsukishima was ready in his uniform in no time, tightening his goggles up and bringing a loaded pistol. He decided to leave his phone at home because he couldn't afford any distractions now - this mission was the distraction.

Akaashi had sent him some directions and explained that Kuroo was already on his way there, disguising himself as one of Asami's men to get in. Apparently it's been working for a long time.

"Even if the leader is dead, we take him," Akaashi told him in a very urgent voice that made Tsukishima's adrenaline rush. This was the night he would hopefully find out what Asami wanted to do with the leaders of different mafias, so now he would have a good look at just how to take him down.  
"Dateko is probably attacking tonight too, so be quick and friendly. Maybe smile a little, alright?"

Tsukishima started off running on the roof of his apartment, jumping to the roof of the next apartment, then jumping to next until he had momentum and was running and jumping from roof to roof. He couldn't take a car where he was going and it wasn't like he could wait for a train. By foot was the best option.

For a brief moment, Tsukishima felt like himself again. Sprinting in the night, his suit on and weapon tucked in his clothes. Tsukishima felt alive as he thought about the amount of people he was going to fight today, about the different laws he was going to break. Even though it was lame to admit, there was a rush Tsukishima missed and for a brief moment, he forgot about everything.

Until a person walking down the street approached and Tsukishima stopped. Usually he would stop just because he couldn't get caught, but this time he stopped for a different reason.

The person walking down the street - Tsukishima would recognize anywhere. Green hair, small build but tall, wearing Tsukishima's old high school sweater with the hood up.

_'Yamaguchi...'_

Tsukishima had to stop, wanting to make sure Yamaguchi was getting home safe. It looked like he was carrying a plastic bag filled with beer, making Tsukishima feel sick when he'd gotten excited that he wasn't the only one struggling right now.

As Yamaguchi made it down half way the street, Tsukishima noticed a man behind Yamaguchi who was dressed all in black with a cap and mask on, and if that wasn't sketchy enough, then the fact that the man was holding something under his sweater should've been.

He was about 10 feet behind Yamaguchi, slowly walking the same steps as Yamaguchi and eyeing him from under his cap. Tsukishima watched him closely, reaching for his own pistol in his belt and getting ready for any attack towards Yamaguchi.

When the man started walking faster towards Yamaguchi, Tsukishima jumped off the roof and on the ground, his feet landing softly and making little noise. He watched as the man went from slow pacing to a speed walk, approaching Yamaguchi, then finally taking the gun out from his sweater and aiming right at Yamaguchi.

Tsukishima jumped out, pushing the aim of the gun in a far off direction. The trigger was still pulled though, the sound making Yamaguchi flinch and turn around with wide eyes, shocked at the scene. But Tsukishima didn't have time to see what Yamaguchi was doing at that moment.

"What the-" Tsukishima punched first then kicked the man's stomach before retrieving the gun and aiming it at the masked man. He couldn't talk, so he couldn't ask who sent him which was pissing him off but he decided there were other things to worry about right now. The masked man's eyes widened when he saw who attacked him, realizing by the goggles who it must have been.

"4-4-" The masked man narrowed his eyes and lunged right at Tsukishima, going for the gun but Tsukishima dodged him, shooting him right on the leg. A loud groan came out of the masked man's lips and his cap came off as he hit the ground. Tsukishima still couldn't identify who it was, so he walked up to him and ripped the mask off.

Of course it was one of Asami's men.

"It's too late," the man growled, glaring up at Tsukishima, knowing the consequence of being caught. If 4-Eyes wasn't going to kill him, then his boss would for sure.

"Dateko was already taken down. You're too late. Fukurodani is next, then _you_ , Karasuno. All of you bastards." Tsukishima furrowed his eyebrows at the man, grabbing his collar and pulling him up so he could look straight into his face. 

"What're you talking about?" He asked in a low voice without thinking. Dateko was already taken down? But for what? Was it just to kill off all the mafia leaders? What purpose would that even serve?

In the moment of Tsukishima's hesitation, the man attacked once more, lunging on Tsukishima and punching him in the face then jumped off, sprinting away.   
It was a stupid move, and Tsukishima assumed it was an attempt to run away so he could report to Asami, but Tsukishima couldn't have that. Someone who was sent to target Yamaguchi didn't deserve to take another step.

Tsukishima aimed, breathed in, then shot. The man fell where he stood, right then and there.

He had to check the time and make sure he had enough to get to Dateko's leader. Out of reflex, he turned to see if there were any witnesses, having assumed that Yamaguchi had ran home already and probably called the police, which would be fine since Tsukishima was in disguise anyway. But when he turned around and saw Yamaguchi there, wide eyed and frozen in place, Tsukishima almost jumped in shock.

They were staring at each other, Tsukishima's eyes softening when he saw Yamaguchi shaking in fear. Of course he would be scared - he just witnessed a murder. 

But he couldn't waste anymore time, and it wasn't like Yamaguchi completely knew what was happening. He would just think he was unlucky that night, call the police and hopefully try to recover from this whole thing healthily. He prayed Yamaguchi wasn't too traumatized.  
Yamaguchi shouldn't have been able to recognize him. He was covered from head to toe, and only his goggles could show so much. Really, only his eyes were showing and that shouldn't have been enough to go by considering it was dark outside too.

So why was Yamaguchi more calm than he expected?

"...Tsuki?"

Tsukishima's eyes widened and his breath hitched as he heard Yamaguchi calling his name. It was for a brief moment, but his whole body was frozen in place, unable to do anything but stare. Once again, he couldn't move.

What gave it away?

"Tsuki?" Yamaguchi's voice was more urgent and this time he actually stepped forward. Instinctively, Tsukishima pointed the gun straight at Yamaguchi, stopping him from coming any further. Yamaguchi stopped right in his place, eyes widening more when the gun was aimed right to his heart. He dropped his bag and held his hands up in surrender. 

"Do-Don't shoot! Please!"

Tsukishima's heart dropped to his stomach and he felt like he was going to vomit. 

They stayed like that for a full minute, Yamaguchi unable to move from his position in fear of getting shot and Tsukishima unable to move from his in fear of breaking. If Yamaguchi was sure it was Tsukishima, then there would be more problems, especially in a time like this when Tsukishima couldn't explain everything. For now, the only thing he could do for now was scare him and get him away.

When all of this was done, he would tell him.

_'Just a little longer. I'm sorry, Yamaguchi.'_

Tsukishima redirected his aim to one of the street lights by them and pulled the trigger, taking the light out so now their part of the street was dark. Tsukishima turned and sprinted away, leaving Yamaguchi stunned and alone in the dark, probably more confused and terrified than before.

Now Tsukishima needed to make another small detour before he could focus on Dateko.

"Tsukishima, what're you-""Please, Ukai-san!" 

Tsukishima was out of breath from sprinting all the way to the convenience store where Ukai and Takeda lived, barging in and making a lot of noise that even the security system went off. Ukai was the one who came out with a baseball bat, but lowered it when he saw Tsukishima, his mask off so he could show it really was him.

"Ukai-san, Yama-Yamaguchi was followed-Please! Please, let-let him stay here," Tsukishima panted, leaning on the nearest counter of the convenience store, not allowing Ukai to stop him.

"Please!""Okay, wait. Slow down."  
Without even realizing it, Tsukishima was crying. Tears were falling and splattering on the ground, but Tsukishima couldn't feel it any of it. He was just....crying. No sobs or hiccups - just tears.

"I can't! I have no time. Please, let Yamaguchi stay here until I come back. I can't answer anything now, I have to go. But promise me Yamaguchi will be safe." Tsukishima was begging, holding Ukai's hands now and was a step closer to going on his knees. He couldn't have Yamaguchi walking around while he was a target. Especially when Tsukishima wouldn't be around, Yamaguchi was a bullseye to them and everyone's been practicing archery.   
He needed reassurance Yamaguchi would be okay.

"Okay. Okay, I'll take care of Yamaguchi," Ukai agreed, nodding as he helped Tsukishima stand up straight. It was the first time he saw Tsukishima show so much emotions, he was even crying. He figured this must be important and urgent.

"Thank you. Thank you so much, Ukai-san. I-I promise, I'll come back. I promise."

Ukai knew those words weren't for him, so he quietly promised to Tsukishima he would relay those words back to Yamaguchi when he saw him.

Tsukishima was sprinting out of the convenience store right after that, going back on track with the mission. He needed to make sure Yamaguchi was safe first now it was confirmed he was a target too. They were probably taking weaknesses now to get to the leaders, and Yamaguchi must have been one of the first on the list. Now he was much more worked up and needed to do this mission properly, or else he didn't know what would happen to Yamaguchi - that was his new terrifying thought.

He thought back to how Yamaguchi called out his name. How Yamaguchi managed to recognize him, whether it be because he heard his voice or just knew, Tsukishima wasn't too sure. All he knew was that Yamaguchi was more in the know now than ever before and it wouldn't be too long before he got even more involved in all of this. So Tsukshima needed to be prepared.  
He needed to be one step ahead. 

The place Akaashi informed Tsukishima about was an in-alleyway bar, dark and sketchy looking, most likely not a very popular place. Apparently the place he needed to look for was inside the bar and underground. The plan was Tsukishima would sneak in through one of the vents leading to the bathroom and Kuroo would let him in through there.

It seemed like they didn't anticipate just how many people were outside the bar guarding it.

Several men in bullet proof jackets and all holding their own guns were facing in different directions, like they knew there was going to be a break-in. So either Kuroo got caught, or they were more prepared this time.

"Who are you?"

There was a gun to the back of Tsukishima's head. Currently he was hiding behind one of the large garbage bins in the alleyway, watching around the corner to see if anything would happen. It's been 15 minutes and none of the guards were moving from their positions.

Tsukishima held his hands up, showing he wasn't holding a weapon right now. If things couldn't get any worse tonight.

"Turn." The low, gruff voice demanded, Tsukishima obeying and slowly turning around. He was face to face with an intimidating, large buff man with piercing eyes. This man wore a black suit almost identical to Tsukishima, a ski mask covering his face well so only his scary gaze was showing.

There was a teal stripe on the wrist part of his sweater, Tsukishima noticed, not focusing on the gun to his head anymore.

"Dateko?" The large man's eyes widened and he lowered his gun down immediately. Tsukishima realized he must have been a member coming back for his leader.

"4-Eyes. Leader of Karasuno." Tsukishima introduced himself, remembering when Akaashi advised he play nice with any other mafia member he met tonight, especially those of Dateko who were just trying to get his leader back. The Dateko member nodded, relaxing a little and finally putting his gun away.

"Lion. Dateko's right hand." He introduced quietly, crouching down now as he joined Tsukishima behind the garbage bin. "I'm getting my leader back. So-""I won't get in your way." Tsukishima assured him with a nod, knowing that Dateko's mission was to get their leader back no matter what.

"I'm here for something else."

Lion seemed to be pleased by this, or indifferent Tsukishima couldn't really tell, because he started on his way with his own mission plan with getting in. The Lion seemed to have a way in because he was behind Tsukishima one moment then gone the other and next thing Tsukishima knew Lion was on the roof of the bar.

There seemed to be an entrance from the roof of the place, clearly the Dateko members have studied, and the Lion was opening up a spot on the roof. When Tsukishima saw that he had a piece of the roof in his hands, he half expected the Lion to just jump in, but then they made eye contact. Lion made a gesture with his hands saying 'come', making Tsukishima smirk under his mask and start moving again.

Making friends wasn't as bad as he thought.

He ran the Lion's path, meeting him on the roof and looking down at the opened place. It looked like it led to an empty room with only a few chairs.

"Torture room. For traitors," the Lion explained in a soft voice, so the guards below them wouldn't hear. The Lion went first, jumping in and surprisingly not making any noise, then Tsukishima was next, landing softly on his feet once more.

"Here," the Lion led them out the door and started running down the hallways. There were several turns needed to be made, Tsukishima guessing that Dateko had studied blueprints before coming. Finally they ended up stopping in front of a metal door, probably sound proof and impossible to open. He heard the Lion growl and then watched him take his gun out, Tsukishima doing the same thing with his pistol.

"You're sure this is where your leader is?" He asked in a whisper, the Lion turning to look at him.

"He has to be. Or else I'll kill him."  
"The man who took him?"  
"No. My leader."

The Lion started to kick the door, which Tsukishima thought was stupid until he saw an actual dent on it. So being big did have it's perks.  
The Lion kicked it again and again until the lock on the door was dented so much and finally clicked, the door opening. There was one final kick to slam open the door completely.

There was only three men in the room. One was unmistakably Asami Muzuru, who currently had a gun in his hand, probably waiting for the right moment to shoot. The other was most likely his right hand man, who Tsukishima recognized from the photos Nishinoya took for him

The last was tied in a chair with rubber cords, which Tsukishima guessed to be the leader. The leader had a cocky grin on his face, along with bruises on his neck and knife slashes on his cheek. When he saw the Lion, he began to laugh, throwing his head back then looking back at them.

"Told you he'd come for me."

The Lion started shooting, first hitting Asami's right hand man in the back, then aiming for Asami himself. But Asami was quicker, pointing the gun to the Lion, which Tsukishima acted quickly by shooting him on the hand. Asami groaned loudly, dropping the gun and glaring at the two before sprinting towards the door, shoving Tsukishima out of the way and fleeing past the Lion.  
Tsukishima's never seen such a cowardly tactic used against him. Just running away? He wasn't going to put up a fight? 

Tsukishima was about to shoot Asami, aiming his gun to the back of his head, but a voice stopped him.

"Wait," he turned and looked at the leader of Dateko, currently being untied by the Lion. "I know he's a priss, but we need him. If he's dead, none of us get what we want."

Before Tsukishima could ask more questions, the leader of Dateko was already hugging the Lion, kissing him on the cheek multiple times and giggling in his arms. Tsukishima made a face at him, wondering if a leader should be as laid back like that at a time like this.

_'Is everyone in the fucking mafia gay or something?'_

"I knew you would come for me! My little lion." The leader of Dateko was shorter than the Lion by at least a whole head, and even though Tsukishima couldn't see the Lion's face, he could see the pleased expression the Lion had from being praised.

"You followed my instructions so well, didn't you? I have everything I need." Tsukishima watched as the leader of Dateko turned to leave, holding the Lion's hand, as they were exiting, but then looked at Tsukishima, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Never thought I would meet the legendary 4-Eyes. And saving my ass out of all things," the leader of Dateko said with an amused voice, walking right up to Tsukishima until they were face to face.

"Thanks, I guess."

Tsukishima moved to the side to let them leave, the man the Lion shot bleeding out and probably on the brink of death by now. He was about to let the Dateko members go quietly, but realized that Dateko must be a step ahead of them too if this was their plan. The leader had information Tsukishima needed, so before they could completely leave, Tsukishima stopped them.  
Kuroo could get out of here on his own.

"Wait," he called out, making the two Dateko members stop where they were and turning around to look at him. The three could hear screaming from the floor under them, and the words 'they're here!' being shouted. But Dateko didn't even flinch.

"What would say...to an alliance?"


	10. Parties and Detective Daichi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting Dateko ended up opening a lot more doors than Tsukishima expected. He quickly learns what MUZURU CORP's real intentions are and plans to take action soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 赤 - The 'aka' in 'Akaashi' means 'red' or 'crimson' or 'scarlet'

"So you've met Lion. I'm Spiker. But with the masks off it's Aone and Futakuchi. Nice to meet you."  
"Tsukishima Kei."

They escaped the same why they got in, jumping up the ceiling opening and running as fast as they could. Tsukishima had no idea where he was going, but he ended up following the Dateko members all the way to wherever they were going, which ended up being a closed down high school.  
Tsukishima knew what Aone looked like now as well, silver hair and an unsurprisingly scary face, which did definitely help with looking intimidating.

"This is your hideout?" Tsukishima asked with a raised eyebrow, Futakuchi grinning widely and nodding proudly.   
"Yeah. Isn't she cute?"

So now they were in an empty classroom, Futakuchi spreading out a bunch of papers of different people which included Asami and Saiki, then some locations like MUZURU CORP. in Tokyo and in the Miyagi prefecture. Tsukishima watched as Futakuchi started to pin places, then got out a marker. 

"What do you guys know?" Tsukishima asked, looking at their files and plans that looked almost identical to the ones Karasuno had as well. Futakuchi wasn't done yet though because Tsukishima knew he stole something while he was in that mangy bar.

"Well, more than you now I guess," Futakuchi chuckled, opening his mouth and reaching in very far down, Tsukishima noticed (not showing one struggle of gagging) then pulled out a chip. It was now wet with saliva, but Futakuchi just wiped it on his shirt dry.

"But I suppose we can try looking at this together, don't you, 4-Eyes?"

Futakuchi got out a laptop, inserting the chip in and waiting for the information to come up. There were so many files on the chip, several unnamed but then he noticed that one of the files did have a title.

_Asami Muzuru_

"Asami Muzuru is dead," Futakuchi declared, clicking on the 'Asami Muzuru' file and showing what was inside of it. There was a lot of personal information about Asami Muzuru and a picture of a man that Tsukishima has _not_ seen before.   
Tsukishima was quickly very confused.

"Wait-Asami Muzuru is _alive_. I saw him. You even told me not to shoot him." Futakuchi shook his head, scrolling down and showing the pages of the file, showing different gun plans that the corporation was probably planning to launch, personal blogs and presentations that Asami Muzuru has and was planning to present, even family photos on the beach or in the plane.  
They were all under the name 'Asami Muzuru', but none of them were the Asami Muzuru that Tsukishima knew.

"Saiki killed him. Back when Saiki 'went missing', he killed him and took his place as CEO of MUZURU CORP," Futakuchi exited Asami's file and went onto another, revealing the information of the 'Nekoma' mafia - Kuroo's face was the first one there.

"Saiki wanted the company to himself when he found out what an impact this gun company had on all of Asia. And when his idiot cousin Shu started working there, he had enough and took matters into his own hands. No dumb fuck would target a strong mafia first - it was to get rid of Shu."

Tsukishima furrowed his eyebrows more, feeling a migraine coming on. If Saiki was still alive, not only that but living as another _person_ , then that would mean everyone had to be in on this - the staff, the families, the fucking _law_.

"What about the police? The police should know what's happening." Futakuchi laughed in response, shaking his head almost immediately.  
"The _police_? You know they're not our friends, right?" He kept looking at the different files, showing another member of Nekoma - Kenma - probably checking just how much information was there.

"The police were responsible for keeping Asami safe, since no one is the biggest fan of a man who makes guns. But since police buy their guns from MUZURU CORP., they decided to also work for them," he went on explaining, seeing as how Tsukishima wanted answers.

"You know the cops - they need to look good all the time. So when a crazy man started claiming he was the new CEO of the company because he gained power by murdering the last leader, the police realized it was their way out. No one but the people working with him and his family knew what Asami actually looked like, not even us. And Saiki was just a regular business man, jealous of his cousin because he was being paid 10x as much an hour for working in a factory," Futakuchi grinned, which Tsukishima realized really unsettled him.  
"It was a golden opportunity. People don't care as much about a regular stranger walking down the street as much as they care about a CEO - anyone can go missing, but not every CEO is killed. They weighed their options and decided to just take the bait."

Tsukishima was processing everything, then shook his head. The police were in on this too. They weren't _actually_ looking for Saiki, they were just pretending. That meant Asami - or Saiki - didn't care about the mafias - the police did.  
Saiki was just a bridge and the police were crossing over.

"There's a contract going on between MUZURU CORP. and the police to keep everyone hush-hush about everything. I didn't get that far into it since Saiki is not the dumb bitch I thought, but if you look here," Futakuchi clicked on a file and showed that it was one containing information on the Karasuno members - Tsukishima was the first.  
"Oh, wow. You're a Libra? I'm a Scorpio. Maybe that's why we're so compatible."

Tsukishima clenched his teeth, wanting to make a comment back, but then something caught his eye as Futakuchi scrolled down. He realized something was wrong with the Karasuno file.

"Yamaguchi isn't in Karasuno," Tsukishima said quickly, his heart racing when he saw Yamaguchi's picture and his name, all the information was there and it was accurate. "He-He's not..He's innocent!"

Futakuchi flinched, looking at the name 'Yamaguchi Tadashi', then back at Tsukishima. "Oh? Well...maybe they made a mistake. We can't all be perfect at our job-""This isn't a joke!"

Tsukishima was breathing harder, taking the laptop from Futakuchi and scrolling down to see just how much information they had on Yamaguchi. It was a lot - of course it was a lot! Yamaguchi had no idea he was being blacklisted and probably ended up letting out a lot of information about himself go. Yamaguchi was a target too, not because he was related to Tsukishima - they thought he was _working_ with Tsukishima.

"They can't-They can't target him! He didn't do anything," Tsukishima insisted, but he knew the Dateko members couldn't do anything to stop people from targeting Yamaguchi. He just didn't know what else to do in the moment. Yamaguchi was an actual target by MUZURU CORP. and by police now.

"He's not...He's not-""Alright, we get it," Futakuchi cut him off, taking the laptop away. "He's not a Karasuno member. Don't worry too much, okay? They haven't started attacking yet."  
Tsukishima's eyes widened, slamming the laptop closed and leaning down to look straight at Futakuchi.

"He's _already_ been attacked. If I wasn't there, he would be shot dead by now."

Tsukishima had to ignore the fact that Yamaguchi could be very well dead right now as they spoke. The possibility was there, but he had to trust that Ukai was going to keep him safe and hopefully lead the police away. This was Tsukishima's problem, not Yamaguchi's. He couldn't drag him any farther than this.

"Oh." Futakuchi replied dumbly, cocking his head to the side and nodded. "That might be a bit of a problem then."

Tsukishima groaned loudly and kicked a nearby desk, making it fall onto the ground with a bang. This wasn't supposed to happen. They weren't suppose to take it this far. Yamaguchi wasn't suppose to be in this far.   
This was just supposed to be Tsukishima killing off a bastard that was following him around and making sure Yamaguchi was safe - he was pretty sure he just went the opposite direction.

"You have a plan, don't you?" Tsukishima asked urgently, looking at the two Dateko members who were watching him having a breakdown. Tsukishima didn't care though - he needed action.  
"I know you do. Karasuno will help you. We'll do this together, just-" he took a deep breath and calmed down a little. Freaking out wouldn't help the situation.  
"Just let me help."

Futakuchi dropped down an invitation that he pulled from one of the physical files he stole. It was fancy with a gold seal and everything, and Tsukishima recognizing the country's national symbol stamped on it.

_"MUZURU CORP. & National Japanese Police Enforcement - Feast Together!"_

"To celebrate 25 years of hard work together," Futakuchi said in a mockingly excited voice, opening his laptop again and getting different profiles of people who worked at MUZURU CORP. like the HR people or the secretaries - even the custodians!

"Over 200 people attend. It's practically a hotspot for gun makers and users. This year they'll all be together in the same place and that's the perfect time to go after them," Futakuchi then showed Tsukishima 2 fake IDs, one for him and Aone.  
"I can make you one and every Karasuno member you bring, but trust me, this isn't going to be an easy party to handle."

Tsukishima didn't know what Futakuchi meant by that until he pulled out a briefcase, opening it and revealing a tuxedo set in one compartment, then gadgets and weapons in the other.

"My favourite type of mission. One where I see my sweet lion all dressed up," Futakuchi purred, petting Aone's hair then going back to Tsukishima to explain what was inside. Tsukishima did not enjoy watching the couple flirt.

"Saiki's wife will be there too in disguise as one of the secretaries. Aone will take care of her while we," Futakuchi pushed the briefcase with the tux and gadgets towards Tsukishima.  
"Will be handling the men. Sweet talk, nice words. What we're looking for is any indication that people remember the old Asami Muzuru, any hesitation when we ask the hard hitting questions. When we find a few, they'll be our target. Then we can take the offense."  
Futakuchi kept his laptop open with the files of the different people working at MUZURU CORP. and some of the police guests that would be attending the dinner as well.

"Your Karasuno members will be attending too, right? I'll get some of the things set up, just give me their names. Oh, and don't worry about bringing your own weapons. Aone will handle that."  
Futakuchi must have realized Tsukishima was distracted and distanced since the Karasuno leader only gave a small nod, staring right at the tuxedo. He glanced at Aone, waiting for him to do something since Futakcuhi himself wasn't at all good with these confrontational stuff.

"Tsukishima-san," Aone called out, making Tsukishima finally look up at them. "There's a payphone just outside."

Aone didn't say anything else and Futakuchi looked confused but didn't question it, leaving the room with Aone. Tsukishima felt a weird gratefulness, getting up and headed outside.

_"Your call is currently being transferred. Please wait a moment."_ There was a moment of silence then a beep.  
_"Hello? Who is thi-"_ "Ukai-san!" Tsukishima almost cried when he heard Ukai's voice, gripping the phone tightly in his hand till his knuckles turned white. He could hear Ukai shuffling around until the sound in the background was completely silent.

 _"Tsukishima?"_ "Yes! Yes, it's me. Is-Is Yamaguchi-" _"He's fine. He's with us and he's fine. Don't worry. Takeda told him that it'll take a while, but everything would be explained later,"_ Ukai was silent for a moment, like he was hesitating, before he finally spoke up again.

_"Yamaguchi really wants to see you."_

Tsukishima's lip quivered hearing that, relief washing over him that Yamaguchi was still willing to see him. Even if it was to scream or curse or fight, seeing Yamaguchi would mean everything to him right now.

"Ukai-san," his voice was shaking, tears threatening to fall. "Can-Can I hear him? Just a little bit. Can I?"

There was a moment of silence before Tsukishima heard Ukai sitting on the ground, some shuffling going on in the background.

 _"-essay is due. But I guess I can manage."_ Tsukishima had to cover his mouth as his sobs started. Yamaguchi's voice sounded raspy, like he was just done crying. He could blame it on the payphone quality, or suck it up and blame it on himself. Even still, he was glad Yamaguchi was safe and in a house where no one can reach him for now.

 _"I know you'll be able to do it though, right? You're a bright student."_ Takeda's voice came in, and some TV noises in the background.  
_"Yeah, I guess. I just haven't been able to focus lately...and...yeah..."_

Tsukishima hung up the phone, then screamed. 

Yamaguchi was safe. He was safe, but for how long? No matter how many times he banged on the payphone booth's walls, no matter how many calls he made, he wouldn't know until Yamaguchi was there with him.

The tears rushed down his face, his whole neck turning red and Tsukishima screamed again. This time he banged his head on the wall, so hard it probably made him bleed, but he didn't care anymore. Hiding all this time was Tsukishima's biggest regret right now. He didn't know if he was this stupid or if this was his punishment for all the crimes he committed.  
Was the previous Karasuno leader seeking his revenge after his death?

But he couldn't stay in that payphone forever. Even though he clenched his fists till they turned white, dug his nails into his skin till blood drew out, screamed until his throat hurt and his voice got hoarse - nothing was enough. Nothing was making this better and nothing was bringing his life back with Yamaguchi, when things were so much easier.

Nothing was making it better and Tsukishima knew that too.

The night of the party came. Nishinoya still couldn't come so they had to call in Sugawara, another Karasuno member who usually dealt with money assignments, to fill in for him.

"I haven't gone out in a mission in a while!" He chuckled when they showed up at the high school Dateko used as their hideout. "So I'll probably just be more of a backup than anything."

Kageyama was there too, Tanaka staying with Nishinoya and promising if Tsukishima needed him he would be on standby. Aone and Futakuchi were introduced to the Karasuno members and they both took an oath that once this was over they would discuss the matters of a possible long term alliance.

"Not sure if I need a King who's not even proud to wear his crown," Futakuchi smirked at Kageyama after the Karasuno member accidentally accused Aone of trying to kill him with his eyes.  
"Own up to your status, you Highness, or I might mistaken you for your horse."

The two didn't talk after that, and instead they waited for the Fukurodani members to show up. Kuroo tagged along too, which Tsukishima didn't understand why, but he figured that the more support they had, the better. 

So there they were; Tsukishima, Kageyama, Sugawara, Bokuto, Akaashi, Kuroo, Futakuchi and Aone, all standing around a table, each one with a briefcase provided by Futakuchi.

"I got your measurements from the profiles Saiki had on you. Hopefully he was good at stalking you guys."

It turned out he was. Tsukishima was wearing a nicely fitted tux, but he noticed that it was a lot stretchier than a regular one. He was able to run and jump, and there were also pockets in the inside, big enough to carry a gun.  
The briefcase also had a pistol which Tsukishima put inside his pant pocket right away. Then there was a pair of glasses in his, and soon realized only his.

"4-Eyes has an advantage. Your glasses can have the communication device we're using tonight," Futakuchi pouted, motioning to everyone who was still changing into their tuxedos. He noticed everyone had a different colour according to their mafia - Kageyama and him had black, Bokuto and Akaashi had grey, Aone and Futakuchi had navy and Kuroo had white.  
"Everyone else has to use their watches. Don't worry though, the collar has the sound part of it while the watch has the mic. But 4-Eyes has the best one."

Tsukishima didn't comment, not thinking it was that big of an advantage to be wearing glasses, but switched his regular ones with the ones with the communication device. They felt the same, but when he pressed the button on he heard a 'ding' and all of a sudden there was a small sound of static in his ear, then the same buzzing noise he got when he had his earpiece in at the start of the mission.

"Everyone has there's on?"  
It looked like everyone was turning their watches on, Tsukishima noticing they glowed when turned on but went back to normal. He couldn't tell, but everyone must have had their own devices.

"And we all know our targets, right? Should we do a sound check?""Let's do it."

Everyone was changed in their tuxedos, guns in different places and devices turned on about to be tested out. They all stood back at different ends of the room, trying to stay in a natural position to test it out.

"4-Eyes to King."  
"Go for King. King to Second."  
"Go for Second. Second to...Owl?"  
"Yeah, that's right! Go for Owl. Owl to Scarlet."  
"Go for Scarlet. Scarlet to Rooster."  
"Go for Rooster. Rooster to-ah, sorry, what was it again? So many names..."  
"Spiker. It's fine. Spiker to Lion."  
"Go for Lion. Lion to 4-Eyes."

Tsukishima nodded when all of their devices worked. It was Futakuchi who rounded them up though, a cocky smile on his face as he handed out everyone their fake IDs and invitations.

"Alright everyone. Let's move."

The party was like how Futakuchi described, mostly made up of older men who brought their wives, over 250 attendances and a lot of security. All of them made it in, however, no one being stopped, even when they were detected for weapons.

"It's empty," Kuroo said, the security man raising an eyebrow at him and inspecting Kuroo's gun. Kuroo did in fact empty his gun before they arrived to the party, saying he had a gut feeling he would be the one outed by the security, and it turned out he was right. He hid the bullets in several places, in his shoe, in the back of his mouth and some tucked in the button up shirt of his tuxedo. 

The security man let him go.

"Ah, I need that. It's a new product of the company. My name is Himori Tanada, I'm the new sales person and this is gonna be one of the new launches," Kuroo lied easily, so natural it was like he was telling the truth.  
"It's feature is compact-ability, so my boss told me I should practice walking with it in my clothes. Cool, right? I could show you how it works if you want. In fact, I can even dissemble and reassemble it and-""It's fine," the security guard cut him off. "Just enjoy the party."

Now all 8 of them were inside, splitting off to do their assigned people. Tsukishima had the luxury of going after Asami - rather, Saiki - himself, posing in as one of the CFOs of the company, potentially launching a plan to make the production of guns much more cheaper, yet beneficial.

Very exciting work.

"-and Asami-san just _loathes_ his new office. Said it's too far from his favourite view, but I can't possibly see what's so great about seeing the city!"  
"Well, he insists to keep moving his office to the 1st floor, and what are we to do? My question is what'll happen to that huge office he does have."

Tsukishima kept moving through the crowd, eyeing different people and listening in to a lot of their conversations to get more information. A lot of people were talking about their personal lives for the most part, but Tsukishima could hear a few tidbits of useful information.

"Asami-san's wife isn't here. Guess parties aren't her thing."  
"She never comes. I guess I would be shy, you know. Just being known as 'the wife'."

Tsukishima didn't do much research on Asami's wife, but if the Asami he was looking for now really was only Saiki, then Asami's wife must be uncomfortable as well and wanted things resolved.

"Spiker to everyone. My target is acquired. I'm going in."

Tsukishima turned, watching as Futakuchi was conversing with one of the managers of the Tokyo branches, looking casual as he talked to him. Tsukishima focused on his own task once more.

"Second to 4-Eyes. You're right by my target, can you get a good look at what he's doing?"

Tsukishima had to slowly turn his head, glancing at Sugawara's target - Detective Daichi, apparently in line to become a Lieutenant. Tsukishima eyed his actions, then tried his best to remain casually as he spoke in a low voice.

"4-Eyes to Second. He's drinking champagne and talking to a secretary."  
"Perfect, copy. Thank you."

He saw Sugawara start to move from his end of the room, coolly sauntering towards Detective Daichi. Tsukishima didn't ask what he was planning on doing.  
Instead he focused on his own task and making his way to the group of men that were discussing affairs with Asami. Tsukishima barely managed to wriggle himself in, standing close to the circle but not in it.

"-the copy of the blueprint! It's very inspiring, but I wouldn't manage to it in the next 5 years. So much potential."  
"Tell me about it. I feel like I could see it as a plan for the future, especially with all this new enthusiasm. But alas, we just don't have the build for it yet. I guess we'll just wait and see."

Tsukishima noticed that Saiki was not contributing much to the conversation, just sipping his champagne and laughing along whenever everyone else laughed. He must be very good with words then.

"Asami-san? Sorry to intrude," Tsukishima made his way in and bowed to Saiki, introducing himself. 

"My name is Ito Eiji-""Second to everyone. Target acquired.""And I'm the CFO of the financial branch. Is it okay if I discuss with you the plans I have for the future of this company?"

Saiki was looking at Tsukishima, his eyes focused. Last time, Tsukishima's face was totally covered except for where his goggles were. Was Saiki trying to decipher if it was him?

"Ito-san? Yes, I remember," Saiki replied back with a smile, shaking Tsukishima's hand. "I would love to hear your ideas."

25 minutes in and Tsukishima could tell Saiki has rehearsed his replies. He could tell that everything he said wasn't natural, proving Saiki hasn't had enough time to prepare for this night. 

"So, the future financial business for the company, in the next 5 years I can see a 17% rise in gross net worth, especially since we're planning to shorten the rifle for faster shooting range."  
"Is that so? Sounds good!"

Everyone had acquired their targets by now and Sugawara even managed to lure Detective Daichi out of the party. He must've ignored Bokuto's lewd comment because he just continued on with his methods.

"Asami-san, what would you say to a 5% raise on employee-"  
"Oh, Ito-san. This is a party! Loosen up a little!" Saiki exclaimed, handing Tsukishima a drink. Tsukishima raised an eyebrow but didn't make a comment, just smiling back at him.

"I know you, Asami-san. You love working rather than parties. Probably will leave a little earlier since you're wife isn't here, right? She doesn't seem to be a fan of big crowds."  
Even though it was for a moment, Asami flinched. Just barely, not noticeable to anyone else, but Tsukishima was watching him closely, every move. And that was enough to prove Saiki's guilt.

"Second to 4-Eyes. I need backup. 3rd exit on the left wing. It's urgent."

Tsukishima put down his glass, bowing to Saiki. "It's been nice talking to you, Asami-san. I'll be in your care as we work together. Please keep a look out for me."

Tsukishima turned around, not wanting to see Saiki's expression as he left, heading to the 3rd exit on the left wing. It led to a back alleyway that Tsukishima assumed Sugawara went all the way down to. He was right, after running down as far as he could until he reached a dead end where Sugawara had Detective Daichi tied up with rope and laying on the ground, the temple of his head bleeding but many hickies on his neck.

"4-Eyes! I got him!" Sugawara said excitedly, crouching down beside Detective Daichi and squeezing his cheeks, making the detective groan. "And he gives good head."

Tsukishima reached inside his tux and pulled out his pistol, pushing his glasses up as he eyed Detective Daichi. "4-Eyes to King. 3rd exit on the left wing, all the way down."  
"Copy."

Tsukishima eyed the detective, walking up and looking down at him, his gun aimed right to his heart.

"You're the lead on the Tanaka Saiki case, aren't you?" Tsukishima started off with. When Daichi glared up at him, Tsukishima kicked his stomach, making the detective groan loudly.

"Answer my fucking question."  
"So what if I am!" Daichi screamed in reply, trying to shake of Sugawara, but the silver haired mafia member just pulled him in closer. Tsukishima wasn't sure if right now was the right time, but he didn't comment on it.

"So," Tsukishima cocked his gun, now aiming it at Daichi's head. "You know what's actually going on. I don't have a lot of time right now, so I need you to answer me quick." He could hear running behind him, knowing it was Kageyama approaching, so he didn't turn back to check.  
"Then I'll let you fuck any mafia member you want. How does that sound?"

Daichi hissed, pushing Sugawara off again, but Sugawara persisted, ruffling Daichi's hair. "You were so cute just a few minutes ago," he cooed at the detective. "I promise I'm not that mean."

Tsukishima was patient, waiting for Daichi to answer. If this detective knew what was good for him, he would answer. Tsukishima didn't feel like getting blood on his hands tonight.

"So you know too," Daichi said, looking up at Tsukishima again. "You know what's happening."

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow, lowering his gun a little so he could look into Daichi's eyes, watching for hesitation. When he saw no shaking, he nodded.

"We do."  
"Then I'm not the one you want," Daichi quickly said. "You want Saiki, right? Then go after him. I'm not the guy you're looking for-""Don't tell me what the fuck I'm looking for," Tsukishima gritted his teeth, the gun back on Daichi's forehead, pressing into his skin.

"Answer my questions properly or else we both leave this place unhappy."

Daichi gulped. His breath was shaking and he knew he couldn't fight 3 men all by himself, especially when one of them had already tied him up. With a sigh of defeat, Daichi hung his head low.

"The police force and Saiki have made an alliance. If Saiki could hold his end of playing Asami, then the they would let him. The police know there are mafias and underground crime work all over Asia, but they haven't been able to track any down in Japan yet. This year, they involved the military," he shifted in his place uncomfortably while Tsukishima stared at him to continue.  
"It was part of the police contract to keep Asami-san safe in the first place, assuming that these same mafia members and underground criminals have been secretly working together with members of MUZURU CORP.. The police thought they could finally catch some of these criminals. But if they couldn't keep Asami-san safe then they would be replaced and the East Asian military would get involved."  
When no one replied, Daichi sighed again.   
"Asami-san dying means Japan's whole police force is blamed and fired and the whole country will be on lock down."

Tsukishima nodded his head slowly, getting more and more information he needed.   
"But that doesn't explain all the employees working, and everyone involved in Asami's life. They just didn't notice that their boss was a different man the next day?"

Daichi shook his head. "Everyone's under a contract. Even Saiki's family. Everyone is given hush-money to keep their mouths shut. None of them are speaking up because they're scared they'll get arrested...or worse." Daichi waited for some sort of response, but when Tsukishima was silent again he continued.

"Ever since Saiki took Asami-san's place, mafia members have been found left and right. So they let him play as Asami-san for now. The Commander in Chief has no idea about it yet, and they're planning to make it so he'll never know. As long as criminals are found, he won't care."

This time, Tsukishima nodded. He lowered his gun down, hearing Daichi sigh in relief, then turned to see Kageyama with his gun out as well, waiting for instructions. They had more information than before, but now he had to do something about it.

"And you, Detective Daichi?" Tsukishima asked, putting his gun away back in his tuxedo. "What were you doing in all of this?" He could hear Sugawara untying him, the ropes falling to the ground.

"I just...I just want things to go back to normal. Justice for Asami-san," he replied in a soft voice. "It's not right that they're using his name like this, after all he's done until his death. I don't want Saiki using his name in vain. So I pretended to do the missing case, but all this time..."

Tsukishima didn't need him to finish. He turned his head every so slightly, looking at Daichi over his shoulder with a small smirk on his face. Daichi didn't attack them, even as his blood dripped on the floor.

"It's nice to meet you, Detective Daichi. I have a feeling we'll be needing each other in the future."


	11. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukishima isn't doing well with not being able to see Yamaguchi. The newly made team attempts to move forward with their mission.

_"Tsuki, let's take a picture, okay? So we'll remember being here!"_

_A clearly bored Tsukishima raised an eyebrow, sighing and shaking his head as he looked out at the park they were walking in. "We go here all the time. The scenery won't change and we'll still be walking together. A picture won't do anything."_

_Yamaguchi pouted, the camera app already out on his phone._

_"But...I want to capture precious memories with you, Tsuki. Every day things, even. Just a few..." Yamaguchi's voice trailed timidly and Tsukishima could recognize it. It was how Yamaguchi spoke when they first started dating. So quiet and unsure - but only when he spoke to Tsukishima._

_"If you want a photo so badly, then take it. I won't stop you," Tsukishima shrugged, watching as Yamaguchi's face lit up when Tsukishima assured him it was fine._

_Damn. Was he always this much of a dick?_

_"Alright! Look at the camera Tsuki! Ready? 3, 2-"_

_Tsukishima was turning away, yet he didn't hear the '1'. He turned to see what was wrong, but Yamaguchi was gone. He was just there though! He was right there, beside Tsukishima. They were together._

_"Yamaguchi?" He yelled out, running down the trail of the park, searching for him._

_"Yamaguchi?!" He yelled louder, feeling like he was running around in a circle._

_"Yamaguchi?! Yamaguchi, where are you?!" He was screaming. He was screaming, but why couldn't he hear himself? Why couldn't he hear Yamaguchi?_

_"Yamaguchi? Yamaguchi!" Everything was disappearing. Everything was dark. He couldn't see anything now. But he didn't want to see just anything. He wanted to see Yamaguchi._

_"Yamaguchi! Yamaguchi? Yamaguchi! Yama-"_

"Yamaguchi!"

Tsukishima woke up, drenched in sweat and panting heavily. He wanted to gulp, but his mouth was so dry. He felt light headed, looking around and trying to remember where he was.

Right. Dateko.

The 8 of them left the party not shortly after speaking with Detective Daichi, Sugawara agreeing to take care of him. When they got back to Dateko headquarters though, they agreed they would talk about a plan the next day and discuss all the information they came up with.

"Tsukishima?" Kageyama came in the classroom Tsukishima was sleeping, gun in his hand, probably ready for any attack that would happen. Tsukishima didn't look at him, sighing softly.  
"Sorry...just a dream."

Kageyama didn't move for a moment, deciphering whether or not he should leave or stay. He decided on the latter, walking in the classroom and joining Tsukishima on the floor.

"Yamaguchi?"  
"...yeah."

Tsukishima didn't think this would affect his dreams, but it did. He also didn't think Yamaguchi would ever get involved in his gang business, but he did. It was all too much and getting to his head, Tsukishima couldn't think straight anymore.

"I called Hinata to check up on him. Yamaguchi, I mean" Kageyama said, Tsukishima putting his glasses on and trying to find something to wipe his sweat with. "He said Yamaguchi hasn't been going to class, but I figured...who would want to in his state, right?"

Tsukishima also found out that Yamaguchi didn't report the shooting, instead the neighbours in the area reported sounds of gunshots and Yamaguchi ran home before Ukai picked him up and took him to his house.   
Yamaguchi has been safe so far.

"I think...I made a mistake. Not telling him." Tsuksihima sighed, bringing his legs up to his chest and hitting his head on his knees. "If I just trusted him a little more. Just maybe..."

Kageyama was silent, watching as his leader broke down. He wasn't good with words, but he figured that any amount of comfort he could give Tsukishima would be worth it.

"Hinata wants to learn more about the mafia. How to shoot a gun, fight," Kageyama said suddenly, making Tsukishima narrow his eyes but Kageyama continued. "Not join it, but just learn some basic things. In case something happens to me and he needs to step in and protect me."

Tsukishima didn't understand why Kageyama was telling him, but nodded at him to keep going. 

"Sometimes I regret telling Hinata, because I know he's worried and I know he wishes he could do more. I try to reassure him, but at the end of the day no matter what decision you make, there's going to be a bit of regret," Kageyama awkwardly patted Tsukishima on the back.  
"You made a decision and stuck with it. All there's left to do now is make things better for you and Yamaguchi."

Tsukishima understood Kageyama came from a good place. But he noticed Kageyama never said Tsukishima made a good decision or a right one - because he didn't. That was what bothered him the most.  
But Kageyama was right. He couldn't go back in time now. He had to fix what he could with what he had now, and hopefully keep Yamaguchi safe while doing it. 

"You can go back to sleep now, Kageyama," Tsukishima yawned, and stretched before standing up. "I think I'm gonna take a walk and get some air."

Later that morning, everyone was gathered again around the table. They all were reporting what they learned that night, starting with Tsukishima retelling Daichi's explanation.

"Their ultimate goal are the Japanese mafias they haven't been able to capture," he told them, showing pictures of the police men that not - not including detective Daichi - and Saiki who was posing as Asami Muzuru.  
"They're willing to pain a lot of money and sacrifice lives for it at this point. If it's found out that the police couldn't keep a CEO of a big company safe, who already has a ton of body guards, the Commander in Chief is willing to put the whole country on lock down until at least one mafia is found."  
"But mafias have been found already," Kuroo observed, knowing that their files were all in the chip that Futakuchi stole the other night. "That's why no one has been saying anything."

Tsukishima nodded, taking out Saiki's file and the real Asami Muzuru's, putting them together.

"Saiki's family and wife must be in on it too. Aone, did you find anything about her?" Tsukishima asked the Dateko member, knowing he was the one who targeted her last night. Aone nodded, preparing his report.

"She spoke normally, but I noticed her watch. Swarovski, metal band, white-rose gold with real diamond framing. A secretary salary cannot afford such a watch, and she stays with the story of her husband gone missing."

Tsukishima nodded, noting that the 'missing Saiki' case is still being played out heavily. Meaning that not only his wife would be in on it, but there had to be others that were being paid to turn a blind eye.

"I spoke with one of the managers," Akaashi chimed in. "Hesitant, but he spoke. He mentioned that the launches of the newest guns are pushed back almost a decade, which is far too long for a company, especially one that sells weapons. Very upset with the performance."

Tsukishima had to search around for another file until finally he stepped across one that made him stop.

"These two," Tsukishima dropped it in the middle of the table.

Hanamaki Tsuna and Hanamaki Ume - the last 2 people who saw Saiki the night he went 'missing'. "We have a profile on them, but no one's talked to them?"

Bokuto nodded, looking down at one of the profiles. "The police didn't take their statements because they couldn't give direct answers. Makes sense since it was pretty dark outside and they just saw him walking home."

Karasuno's leader looked down at the profiles intensely, then shook his head.

"Direct answers? Something tells me the police were the ones not asking direct questions."

Unsurprisingly, the Hanamaki couple moved right after the Saiki incident, all the way to Hokkaido, which obviously made things a little more difficult for the mafia members. They had to either take a flight or a ferry, and right now they were on a time sensitive schedule.  
But the Hanamaki family was the only lead so far.

"The plane tickets are booked for for later tonight," Kuroo told them, when they realized that plane would be the best way since the ferry took more than half a day. They just had to pray that Saiki's plan would be slower and they could get to the Hanamaki family first.

"What are we even gonna ask them? To spill?" Bokuto asked in frustration, when he realized the mission was going to take longer than he anticipated, saying he should've 'finished more work' while he could. Akaashi was calm in responding.

"They're the only nonprofessional people in on it. We're taking a gamble by going, but hopefully they have information we need." 

Aone and Futakuchi were staying behind, wanting to continue the work they were doing in the Miyagi prefecture, saying that if something happened, they would contact right away.

"If the Hanamaki family ends up being useless, we'll make sure to work 10x as hard, alright?" Futakuchi promised, helping them with packing their supplies for their far off mission.

Tsukishima watched from the window as Kageyama was making a phone call to Hinata with the payphone, telling him that he was going to Hokkaido for a few days. Even though it creeped him out, seeing Kageyama smiling made him jealous.

"What about Yamaguchi?" Akaashi came up behind Tsukishima, startling him but he quickly shook his head.

"I can't call him. He's....He won't know. Not for a while," Tsukishima sighed, knowing that right now he had to focus on the mission and telling Yamaguchi would be postponed for later. Again.  
He could take an angry Yamaguchi, but he couldn't handle it if he was in danger. As long as Yamaguchi was safe, even if he hated Tsukishima, it would be fine.

"I see," Akaashi replied with a small nod, joining in with watching Kageyama, now watching as he talked normally, most probably asking about Hinata's classes now.

"Yamaguchi looks at you like you created the universe," Akaashi said making Tsukishima raise an eyebrow and turn to him. Akaashi didn't look back at him though.

"Even if you didn't see it. That's what we saw. How Yamaguchi looked at you."

Hokkaido was a long trip and Tsukishima hated sitting in between Bokuto and Kuroo. They were apart of a fucking mafia, and they were so talented and skilled, intelligent and aware.

"Excuse me, Ms. Flight Attendant? Yeah, can we get 5 more bags of pretzels? Thank you!"

Tsukishima was so tired that he felt like those 2 hours on the plan were more like 2 days in a cop car.

"I'm just saying, if spider man got bitten by a radioactive spider, and I got bitten by a dog, then maybe..." Kuroo had a mouthful of pretzels which were getting crumbs everywhere.  
"The dog has to be radioactive too, you dumb fuck." Bokuto retorted, also getting pretzel crumbs everywhere.

He looked to his right where Akaashi and Kageyama were taking a nap, peaceful and quiet, and he really wished he'd realized sooner when Akaashi pushed him to the 3 seat row, why exactly he did such a thing.

"Uh, the but a dog is bigger? The DNA should be able to get inside of me easily."  
"Yeah, but it's just a regular dog. All you'll get is rabies."

Tsukishima banged his head on the seat in front of him, closing his eyes and trying to block out the conversation, but in the end he just learned that Bokuto was very passionate about the science of comic books, and Kuroo really wanted to turn into a dog.

"Finally," Tsukishima sighed in relief as they got off the plane, tired of being with Kuroo and Bokuto alone and wanting to just get on with the mission already, despite their plans being executed tomorrow.

"I'm so...fucking tired." Tsukishima groaned, dragging his feet as they walked to the taxi area, trying to get to the place they were staying. Since they couldn't use their real identities, they ended up finding some love hotels they could crash at for a bit. Even though it would look a little suspicious that 5 men were staying in one room, a love hotel was their best option.

"We have to buy guns," Bokuto reminded them in a whisper as they waited for their turn to get a taxi. Aone pointed out the airports were strict about weapons nowadays and they couldn't make it in like they did with the party, so they decided to buy weapons when they got to Hokkaido instead.

"By tonight, okay? I feel uncomfortable when I don't have one..."

The car ride to the love hotel district was much more relaxing, Tsukishima being able to half-sleep the whole time until they got to the grossest love hotel there was in the street. The front desk worker was creepy, winking at the 5 of them when they asked for one room, then they actually saw the room and how small the one bed was and Tsukishima almost forgot about their mission.

"I'm staying.." Tsukishima groaned, flopping on the bed first. "Buy a gun for me, please. I'm gonna sleep," he sighed softly, and even though the pillow smelled like cigarettes, he ended up falling asleep right away shortly after he heard the door close.

_"Tsuki, come on! Dance with me!" They were in Yamaguchi's apartment, shortly after Yamaguchi moved into one closer to the campus. Tsukishima agreed to help him build some furniture, but when Yamaguchi insisted on turning on some music and taking a short break._

_"I love this song, please Tsuki?" Yamaguchi asked desperately, pulling Tsukishima's arm, but Tsukishima just dismissed him, screwing the bolt into the corner of the table._

_"Wait, I'm almost done with this," Tsukishima mumbled, making Yamaguchi whine and cross his arms. "No fair! A table gets more attention than your boyfriend."_

_When Yamaguchi got more comfortable with Tsukishima and was more reassured that Tsukishima liked him too, he started pointing out things he didn't like and whined a bit more.  
Tsukishima liked seeing Yamaguchi out of his shell._

_"Alright, there, I'm done. I won't dance, but-" When Tsukishima turned around, Yamaguchi wasn't there anymore._

_"Yamaguchi?" He called out, looking in the kitchen, then the bedroom, then the bathroom. Yamaguchi wasn't there._

_"Yamaguchi?" He called out again, opening the front door and looking around the hallway of the apartment, running up and down._

_"Yamaguchi?!" He ran down the stairs, going outside and looking for Yamaguchi at the front._

_"Yamaguchi? Where are you.." Tsukishima was panting even though he wasn't running. He was walking in circles, and next thing he knew he was back in Yamaguchi's apartment, but this time the place was empty. No furniture, no Yamaguchi._

_"Yamaguchi? Yamaguchi?! Yamaguchi! Yama-"_

"Yamaguchi!"

Tsukishima gasped, sitting up on the bed suddenly. When he looked around and saw he was still in the love hotel alone, he took deep breaths and shook his head, trying to calm himself down.

Another nightmare.

He got up, going to bathroom and washing his face, feeling like he just lost 5 years of his life. He really wanted to call Yamaguchi right about now.

"We're back!" Bokuto called out, Tsukishima stepping out of the bathroom and watching as they returned with a few boxes of bullets and a bag that Akaashi brought with them before, probably so they wouldn't look suspicious holding a bunch of guns around.

"Here," Kageyama said after loading one, handing it to Tsukishima, which Tsukishima took and put it in the waistband of his pants. Akaashi and Bokuto were also loading their guns, and apparently Kuroo bought a taser.

"I have a feeling a lovely little couple won't shoot," Kuroo shrugged. "And even if they do, Bokuto will shoot them for me."

They discussed the plan for the next day too, agreeing that they would start of in a less aggressive way, just calmly approaching the Hanamaki family and asking them a few questions and seeing just how prepared they were.

"Now everyone get some sleep," Akaashi yawned, sleeping on the floor beside Bokuto. After playing rock, paper, scissors for the bed, Kuroo ended up winning.

"We all need it."

Tsukishima didn't sleep a wink that night.

The Hanamaki couple were middle-aged, living in a peaceful little house on a mountain. Conveniently, away from most of society and technology. Kageyama could confirm that they had no signal the farther up they went up the mountain. Meaning no one could track them down.

"It really is in the middle of nowhere..." Kuroo said softly when they finally reached the house of the Hanamaki family, secluded and hidden within trees. The only reason they were able to find it was because all 5 of them were taking looks in different directions the whole time.

"Alright, since we don't have our earpieces, we just scream," Akaashi reminded them, all of them having their weapons in their waistbands, huddling for a team meeting right before they executed their plan.

"Kageyama and Tsukishima will go first. You guys remember what you're doing?" They both nodded and Akaashi patted them on the back.

"Alright. Let's do this."

While Kuroo, Bokuto and Akaashi hid behind a few trees across the house, Tsukishima and Kageyama walked up the house, knocking on it loudly and waited for someone to answer. Tsuna - the wife - was the one who answered, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Who're ya?" She asked angrily, not opening the door fully. Tsukishima proceeded with the plan.

"Hello, Hanamaki-san? My name is Ito Eiji, my partner Ruri-san and I are from a journalist company and have been sent to interview those living in different areas of the country. This household was recommended to us so we thought to have a look and interview you and your husband. Is it alright if we could chat for a bit?"

Tsuna looked at them, like she was debating whether to buy their bullshit or not, but then finally opened the door, nodding, a hard look on her face. "Come in."

Kageyama and Tsukishima felt that this was way too easy, but entered anyway since that was their objective. Tsuna allowed them to enter, closing the door and locking it. Unsurprisingly, the next thing they felt was a gun pressed to the back of their head, Tsuna holding one to Kageyama and Ume holding one to Tsukishima.

"Who are you too? You with the military?" Ume - the husband - asked aggressively, pushing the gun deeper against Tsukishima's head. The mafia members held their hands up - but they were prepared for this.

"Scarlet!!" Kageyama yelled and in a matter of seconds Bokuto was breaking down the door with Akaashi and Kuroo behind him, everyone lifting up their weapon. Kageyama and Tsukishima pulled out their guns too and turned around quickly, pointing straight at the Hanamaki family.

"Now," Tsukishima said in a calm voice. "How about that interview."

The Hanamaki family turned out to be more innocent than they thought, dropping their guns and surrendering right away.

"Saiki-Saiki sent us away! It was silence for our lives-please! Understand the position we're in."

Tsukishima felt bad for how pathetic they looked.

"So you've just been hiding out up here all this time?" Kageyama asked, holding his gun to intimidate them, but they sort of all agreed they would let the Hanamaki family go once they were all settled and done with.

"Yes! Yes, we've been hiding," Ume answered, looking down at the ground as he answered their questions. "Saiki's been communicating to us by radio and making sure we're never followed. He-He thinks there are some police that are turning against him. Please, believe us!"

Tsukishima nodded slowly, assuming that those police were police like Daichi, who were trying to get Saiki's identity out there and rightfully arrest him with hard, unquestionable proof, that even the police that started this couldn't deny.

"Radio?"  
"Yes! Radio. We don't talk to him, but whenever he interrogates someone, we listen in. In case-In case-" Tsukishima signaled for him to stop.

"Show us the radio."

Ume took it out right away, turning it on and getting a signal when he moved the antenna the right way. It was a lot of static at first, loud and annoying, but soon it was there, the sound of voices, one of them being Saiki himself.

 _"I know you know something,"_ the voice of Saiki growled, seeming that he was interrogating someone right now. _"Tell me and I'll let you go."_

There was silence. Then a bang on a table. Then a shaky, quiet voice, barely audible, but they all heard.

_"I-I don't know..."_

The 5 mafia member's eyes widened and everyone looked at Tsukishima. Stunned. Silent.

It was Yamaguchi.

Yamaguchi's voice.

Saiki had Yamaguchi.


	12. Interrogation

_"I know you know something, kid! Spill and we won't hurt you."  
_ _"I-I already said...I don't know what-what you're talking about..."_  
 _"Tsukishima Kei."_  
 _"..."_  
 _"Now we're getting somewhere."_

Tsukishima was silent. 

The group of them took the Hanamaki's car, fitting themselves in and drove back down to the city to get a ticket back to their province, aiming to get to Tokyo. They still weren't sure where Saiki was.

"Hinata..." Tsukishima could hear Kageyama beside him breath out beside him, looking equally stressed. Of course, everyone was worried for the people they loved - but Tsukishima was terrified.

He could _hear_ Yamaguchi's voice. His voice, scared and shaking. 

Yamaguchi's voice.

_"You're gonna sit there and look at me while you tell me that good for nothing 4-Eyes is innocent? I know you're in on this too!"  
_ _"Do you...Do you know where he is?"  
_ _"What?"  
"Tsuki. Do you know where he is?"_

The static was crazy the lower they got to the city, cutting off a lot of the words, frustrating Tsukishima further and hitting the damn radio to make it work again. There was only so much he could do though.

Yamaguchi's voice was there, and Tsukishima desperately needed to continue hearing it.

"They have Aone," Akaashi said, getting off the phone. It seemed that he contacted Futakuchi and asked the situation on their side of things.

"And members of Johsai. That's all he knows. It was the police who took them. Who took Yamaguchi," Akaashi told them, letting everyone know the information they had so far, but mainly Tsukishima, who seemed to be the most attentive yet distant from them. 

He was staring at the radio so intensely, it might have burst into flames.

_"4-Eyes is out there! In the open, killing people. You like that, kid? You like that your boyfriend is a murderer? Do you kill people too?"  
_ _"Please...stop-stop saying that about Tsuki. It's not true!"_

Tsukishima felt his stomach clench as he heard the questions, Saiki asking them even though he wasn't going to get the answers he wanted. Yamaguchi didn't know anything. He didn't know anything about Tsukishima, not a single thing about the mafia. 

Yamaguchi didn't deserve any of this.

"We need to take a train," Kuroo said, parking outside the station and getting out. "It'll take 4 hours."

Tsukishima's eyes widened, shaking his head as he gripped the radio, hard enough that it could've broken in his hands right then and there. He spoke for the first time ever since they got the radio.

"4 hours is too long! Yamaguchi is with Saiki right _now_. If we're not fast enough, he could-he could-" Tsukishima started to breath a little harder, but he wouldn't let himself cry. Yamaguchi didn't need tears right now - he needed help.

And that help wouldn't come if it was going to take 4 hours to get to Tokyo.

"We don't have choice," Kuroo said firmly, already walking towards the station, not wasting any time. "If we don't move now, it'll take longer. Even if we take a bullet train, it'll just be half an hour quicker."

It was too late to buy plane tickets, but Tsukishima was getting anxious. Especially now that the radio was cutting off more and the static was stronger. Yamaguchi's voice was cutting out and Saiki's was only getting louder.

_"Karasuno, then. You know about them, don't you? You know their plans, I bet."  
_ _"I-I have no idea what that-that is-"  
_ _"Quit your lying! It's getting a little old, yeah?"_

Tsukishima let out a shaky breath, wishing desperately that he could go through the radio and take Yamaguchi from him. Keep Yamaguchi safe.

It was too late for wishing.

"Yamaguchi will be fine," Kageyama said in a low voice, not a very convincing statement, but for some reason Tsukishima was just a little bit settled.

"How do you know that?" Kageyama gulped, letting out a soft breath before he looked at Tsukishima. Both of them, probably all of them - their expressions were solemn.

"Because," Kageyama's voice went from unsure, to assertive and certain. "No one messes with Karasuno."

Tsukishima didn't know how to feel at this point. Everything was mixing in, everything was getting blurry. He couldn't just give up, he had to fight harder and stronger and faster - he needed to get Yamaguchi.

"Alright," Tsukishima nodded. "The train to Tokyo, the next one is ours."

So they went to grab the tickets, Tsukishima still having the radio in hand and turning the down the volume since at this point it was all static. Especially when they got in the train, all of them shaking anxiously and staring out the window as they just waited to get to their destination.

Right. They didn't know if Yamaguchi was the only one. 

Hinata could be there too. If Aone was there, then maybe Kenma? And the different mafia members. Was Takeda and Ukai taken too? It was nerve wracking, everyone staying silent and not looking at each other as the train passed by different stations, the scenery going from nature to city in a blink.

3 and a half hours passed and no one was settled. Tsukishima out of all of them was going the most insane.

"We have to split up," he insisted, still clutching onto the radio with his life. "We split up and find out where they are. It has to be the only way.""If we split up, then we're weaker," Akaashi pointed out. "We have to do this together."

They were at their last station, Tsukishima at this point ready to jump out of his seat and sprint to MUZURU CORP. as quickly as possible. Everyone else was persistent in travelling together though, but Tsukishima found the idea tedious.

"If we're all together, we don't cover as much," he argued, feeling like his veins were popping out of his neck at this point. "We can all go different directions.""Dateko has been monitoring as well. Johsai just came in when one of their members was taken too. We need to stick together," Kuroo pointed out, adding to the reasons why the idea of splitting up was a bad one.

Everyone knew Tsukishima was getting more and more anxious by the second, especially ever since the radio signal cut off and he wasn't able to hear Yamaguchi anymore. But he seemed not to be in the right mind either, and now wasn't the time for that.

"Come on, 4-Eyes," Kageyama pitched in, looking at Tsukishima with that same determined look from before. His leader was breaking, but he couldn't break now. They were closer than ever, and all they needed was to take a few more steps.  
"This isn't the time to fight each other. We all have something to protect, so we have to fight beside each other. Right?"

Tsukishima stared at all of them, and even though it was short and barely visibly, he nodded.

Tokyo was even more hectic.

Tsukishima couldn't seem to figure out where they needed to go, but Akaashi was the one who was leading them anyway. When the radio signal was picking up again though, he stopped.

"Wait," Tsukishima made them all stop, listening as the radio's static was fading away and voices were heard from the radio. 

_"-feel like talking?"  
"I-I already told you," _there was a loud sob. _"I don't know anything!"  
"Again with that! Honestly!"_

There was a loud hit, and Tsukishima felt like he could burst out crying or murder the whole nation at this point. Yamaguchi was being tortured for information that he couldn't provide. Information about Tsukishima that he didn't know.

"Futakuchi," Akaashi said, looking at his phone and showing who was calling. "I'm putting him on speaker." They all stood to the side of a building, huddling around the phone, waiting for some more in-tell.

"Futakuchi?"  
 _"Akaashi-san. No one's dead yet."_ There was a small sigh of relief around everyone except for Tsukishima who was turning red. _"The police were assigned to take people. I have the list and an area, but still no exact location,"_ there was a shuffling for a brief moment before Futakuchi came back on the line.  
 _"Yamaguchi Tadashi,"_ Tsukishima closed his eyes.   
_"Hinata Shouyou,"_ Kageyama's breath hitched.  
 _"Bokuto Koutarou,"_ Bokuto raised an eyebrow and smirked.  
 _"Kozume Kenma,"_ Kuroo clenched his teeth.   
_"Aone Takanobu, Iwaizumi Hajime, Tendou Satori - those were all the people supposed to be taken, I don't know if all of them were,"_ at this point too, they could hear the tiredness in Futakuchi's voice.

 _"Their goal was to take seconds. Right hand men, not leaders. I'm sure it's to get information, but they won't kill them, not tonight,"_ everyone was holding their breaths as Futakuchi paused.  
 _"But I don't know anything else besides that. We're trying to-"_ "Futakuchi," Tsukishima took the phone, talking into the mic. "Listen. Call Sugawara. Call him and tell him to get Detective Daichi. Do it now, and trust him." Tsukishima's mind was thinking properly again, especially as he heard there was hope that Yamaguchi would make the night.  
"Trust me on this. Sugawara, then Detective Daichi. Okay?"

Futakuchi moved around, he could hear it through the phone. _"Copy._ "

The call ended and Tsukishima felt a little more at ease. There was a ding on Akaashi's phone and he showed everyone what came up. Futakuchi had sent a map of an area where the interrogations were happening, not many things around the area. Aone must have left something to track down.

"There's a police station," Kuroo pointed out, pointing to the very top corner of the map. The only other building to choose from was a small convenience store. The police station was a much better gamble.

"The interrogations are happening in there?""Underground. That's probably why Futakuchi can't get a good signalling," Kuroo pointed around the area, noting how there wasn't any other buildings around. It could just be a mess up in constructions plans, but it was a little suspicious.

"But we can't do this quickly," Bokuto looked around, trying to see if there was a way to get to the place on the map with the nearest accessible transportation. "They're probably prepared for a break-in. We have to be smart about this."

Everyone looked at Tsukishima. Tsukishima who was still clutching on the radio. Who had been freaking out all this time, worried about Yamaguchi. Tsukishima who was going absolutely insane with madness.

_"If we tell you where 4-Eyes is, will you speak?"  
_ _"So you do know where he is?"  
"I'm asking the questions around here! If you're gonna talk, answer my fucking questions then."_

"We go. Now."

The police station was nearly deserted. The area itself was pretty empty with the exception of a few people walking by. Tsukishima could practically feel the amount of crime happening beneath them.

"Remember. This isn't going to work if we're not working together," Akaashi spoke up, the 5 of them in a circle, each clutching their gun. Tsukishima had gotten rid of the radio before they were close enough to the station, smashing it on the ground and stomping on it with his foot.  
He told himself he would be hearing Yamaguchi's voice soon.

"Kuroo, Kageyama and Tsukishima, all take the police station. Bokuto and I will take the convenience store. In an hour if there's nothing-""We meet back here," Tsukishima finished off with a nod. "But there will be something. I know it."

Everyone looked at each other, nodding shortly before they split up, Tsukishima leading Kageyama and Kuroo into the police station, his gun out and ready to fire at anyone who approached.

The station was empty. They started searching everywhere for something else that was off.  
"Here," Kageyama said in a low voice. Ever since he learned Hinata was taken too he'd been awfully lividly quiet as well. "I think it's this one."

Kageyama was poking in one of the brigs of the police station, noticing that there was an uneven cement plaster on the wall. He kicked it, revealing an opening that was big enough to fit one man at a time, but they had to crawl. "I think."

Kuroo looked around and found a flashlight on one of the desks, clicking it on and going over, peering inside to see if there was anything farther than the entrance. It looked like a small tunnel, and if he reached his arm far enough then there was a turn at the end.

"Let's try it," Kuroo nodded, putting the flashlight in his mouth first before crawling inside. Kageyama followed, then Tsukishima was last, following Kuroo as he made turns. Tsukishima noticed, it wasn't dusty inside. Even though there was plaster falling off, and foam that he occasionally crawled on, it seemed like it wasn't a tunnel that was left alone.  
They've been crawling for several minutes, probably around 10.

"I hear it," Kuroo whispered, stopping suddenly so Kageyama and Tsukishima stopped as well. "You guys hear it too?" They were all silent, trying to listen to what Kuroo was hearing.

_"-great. I'm about to cut your tongue off."  
_ _"Go ahead and cut it off then! Then I really won't tell you anything!"_

"Hinata-!""Shhh!" Kuroo and Tsukishima both hushed Kageyama quickly, but Tsukishima knew the feeling. He was worried, and scared, and even though it was unnerving knowing Hinata was there, being interrogated, at least Hinata knew something - Yamaguchi had no idea.

"We're close," Kuroo said, continuing his crawl. It took Kageyama a few seconds to continue moving, Tsukishima thought he heard him sniffling. "There's probably some sort of entrance if we make it all the way."

Even though they were still crawling, Hinata's voice got louder. The person who was interrogating him must have been one of Saiki's men because they couldn't recognize the voice all that well.

_"-think I'll tell you anything, then you're wasting your time! Let me out already!"  
"You've been trained well, haven't you?"  
"You're all scum! Every, single one of you. You're no better than common criminals that eat dirt just to see another day!"_

There was a loud hit, Tsukishima saw Kageyama flinch. All of them were shaken, all of them were off put by what was happening. But they needed to focus, or else nothing would get done on this mission.

"I see it," Kuroo whispered. They all stopped, but Tsukishima couldn't see what Kuroo was seeing. He banged the wall a few times before he opened it up, light streaming inside of the small tunnel they've been climbing. Kuroo stepped out first, then Kageyama, then Tsukishima.

"Kenma."  
"Kuroo?"

They seemed to be interrupting one of the interrogations going on. 

The person interrogating was obviously shocked, fumbling as he took his gun out, but Kageyama was faster, shooting him in the heart then the head. Kuroo was helping out his member - Kenma - who was currently tied up with cables.   
Kenma's face was bloodied and bruised, most likely after hours of torture with trying to get information out of him. His temple was ripped open and his cheek was already a dark purple.  
Tsukishima was beginning to wonder just how bad Yamaguchi's damage was.

"What did they ask you?" Kuroo asked, untying the cables and letting Kenma go. Kenma rubbed his wrists, revealing that not only did his head take a hit, but his whole body. His shirt had blood stains on it, his wrists a bright red and slowly turning purple, and when he stood up he collapsed right away, Kuroo catching him.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," he mumbled under his breath. "They asked me about you, of course. Asking where I could find you. Apparently all the leaders of mafias were in hiding." Kuroo looked down at Kenma, eyebrows furrowed as he touched Kenma's face.

"What do they want?" Kenma looked up at Kuroo, his straight face only looking at him.

"They want all the leaders dead."

Tsukishima flinched, then there was a bang on the other side of the wall. No one must have heard them come in since no one has ran inside the room yet. 

"We go then, King," Tsukishima nodded at Kageyama, then looked over at Kuroo. "You can stay here. We'll continue on." Kuroo looked like he wanted to protest, but then when he looked at Kenma, who was still bleeding, another bruise forming on his neck, he nodded.  
"Copy. Kenma and I will get out of here and send for Akaashi and Bokuto. Who knows if they found anything."

They all agreed, Kuroo pushing Kenma in the tunneled wall, bringing the flashlight as well. Kuroo gave Tsukishima his taser as well, telling him he would need it more than him.

"Okay. We check each and every room," Tsukishima ordered, getting his gun out, the two of them standing by the door of the interrogation room. Kageyama nodded back at him, then pushed the door open with his shoulder, both of them putting their guns up, back to back, expecting an attack.

No one was in the hallway, but there were several doors. "I'll take this side,""And I'll take this one."

Tsukishima walked forward, careful, quiet steps as he pressed his back against the wall beside another door. He could hear voices, but no words. With a hard kick he opened the door, holding his gun up. There was someone interrogating holding a baseball bat. When Tsukishima looked down to see who it was, Aone was coughing blood on his knees, a black eye forming.

Tsukishima started shooting. Before the interrogator could attack, he was already on the ground and Tsukishima was down, kneeling next to Aone. His hands were tied behind his back, so Tsukishima helped him.

"Is..." Aone coughed more blood, swaying from side to side. He looked like he was about to pass out. "Futakuchi...okay?" Tsukishima nodded, finishing untying Aone then gave him the taser from Kuroo.  
"I can't stay," Tsukishima said quickly, trying to help Aone up, but he was as helpless as Kenma was. "In the room next door, there's an exit you can crawl out of. Hurry, before they catch up."

Aone nodded, using all his strength to stand, taking the taser but also the baseball bat the interrogator used on him. He gave Tsukishima one more reassuring nod, and Tsukishima didn't hesitate moving on.

The next door, Tsukishima could hear more. Beating after beating, then coughing. He braced himself, holding the gun tightly in his hands, then kicked the door open with all his might.

There was Saiki. He was holding a knife, pointing downwards.

And there was Yamaguchi. On the ground, coughing blood, his legs slashed and bruises from his cheeks to his neck. He couldn't look up. It looked like he was barely breathing.

"You-" Saiki took a gun out from his belt, pointing it at Tsukishima.

Tsukishima started shooting. Saiki started shooting too.


	13. Breaking and Entering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Yamaguchi, please. Wake up."

A bullet went through Tsukishima's chest.

A bullet went through Saiki's rib cage. 

They were both shooting but no one stood down, especially not Tsukishima when he saw Yamaguchi laying on the floor like that. Beaten, bruised - he wasn't losing this fight.

"For fucks sake, kid," Saiki dodged the following bullets, moving to the side, stepping forward, but Tsukishima did the same. He was shot in the shoulder again, but it was like he couldn't feel it - not when he was so close.

Then there was an arm around his neck, choking him. It caught him by surprise, his eyes widening and his glasses dropping the ground, smashing. He still held the gun tightly in his hand, but now he was hitting the arm that was around his neck multiple times, trying to get them to let go.

Tsukishima's face was turning red and he couldn't breath. His eyes were watering, his mouth open and trying to get any amount of air. He was wheezing, watching as Saiki had a wide smirk, walking towards Tsukishima and stomping right on his glasses.   
Tsukishima could hear the crack of the lenses break. 

"4-Eyes," Saiki tsk'ed, shaking his head and pointing the gun right on Tsukishima's forehead, clicking it and holding his finger on the trigger. Tsukishima could blur out to the side of them Yamaguchi.

Yamaguchi down. Still. Not moving. Bleeding. Eyes closed.

"Bastard," Tsukishima chocked out, kicking Saiki in the stomach causing him to groan. Tsukishima wanted to attack the person choking him as well, but the less air he had the weaker he got.  
Saiki spit at him, pressing the gun harder against Tsukishima's head.

"You're not in a good position to play dirty, 4-Eyes," Saiki chuckled, cocking his head at Tsukishima with an amused face. Tsukishima's vision was going white and he could feel himself slipping.

"If you're gonna play a game, 4-Eyes, at least make the right moves."

There was a gun shot. Tsukishima heard it right in his ear.

But Tsukishima's heart was still beating. 

The arm around him choking him loosened and the body fell behind him, leaving Tsukishima panting and glaring up at Saiki. Tsukishima didn't have time to check who shot their gun.  
Saiki also was clearly shocked, about to pull the trigger on Tsukishima.

But Tsukishima was quicker.

He high kicked the gun out of Saiki's hand, but since the trigger was pulled he managed to shoot Tsukishima in the thigh. Saiki's gun fell to the floor, sliding to the other side where Yamaguchi lay.  
Tsukishima wasn't done yet.

He punched Saiki in the jaw, then kneed him in the stomach. Saiki fought back, punching Tsukishima's cheek then kicked him down on the ground, which Tsukishima quickly got up from, kicking Saiki in the neck and getting him down. When Saiki was finally on the floor, Tsukishima took the opportunity, kicking him in the face then leaning down to punch him once more before standing back up so he could look down at him. 

"Fucker," Tsukishima stepped on Saiki's chest, aiming his gun right at Saiki, in between the eyes. The man who just had Yamaguchi, the man who just beaten and tortured him for information Yamaguchi couldn't give. This man who took Yamaguchi away.

Tsukishima held his life in his hands.

"Lowlifes like you, I don't mind killing," Tsukishima growled, watching the fear in Saiki's eyes as he looked at the gun Tsukishima had on him. He stepped harder on Saiki's chest, causing him to choke out, holding Tsukishima's ankle desperately and trying to get him off, but Tsukishima stayed on him, glaring down.

"Don't worry. We'll end up in the same place."

Tsukishima pulled the trigger. 

He could feel Saiki's heart stop. 

"Everyone on the ground! Hands up, on the ground!" 

Tsukishima ran to Yamaguchi, holding him in his arms and seeing what exactly had happened to him.   
There was blood pooling out of his mouth still, his cheek, jaw and eye turning purple from multiple beatings. There was blood dripping from his temple to his neck and Tsukishima looked down, his stomach was slashed too. His thigh was stabbed and he was losing more blood as Tsukishima held him.

All he could do was cry and hold him.

"No. Come on, Yamaguchi, don't-" Tsukishima checked his pulse. It was weak, barely there but still working. Tsukishima picked him up, not having a plan but needing to take him somewhere else.

"It's okay Yamaguchi. I got you. I couldn't-I couldn't-but, I can-I couldn't, but I can now, so," Tsukishima sobbed without meaning to, running out of the room and turning, just wanting to get out of that goddamn place.

He came face to face with Daichi.

"Dai-Dai-" Tsukishima broke down, Yamaguchi in his arms, his blood dripping on the ground. Daichi was shocked, looking at the two, especially at Yamaguchi and the damage he took. He listened to Tsukishima's sobs for a few seconds before slowly taking Yamaguchi from his arms.

"Please!" Tsukishima burst out, giving Yamaguchi to Daichi. He had a better chance surviving with him than with Tsukishima.

"I-I'll go to jail. I'll turn myself in, just please-" Tsukishima panted, looking down at Yamaguchi's body. How much time did he have left?

"Help him!"

Daichi looked down at Yamaguchi, then back up at Tsukishima, nodding firmly. Every second passed, Yamaguchi's breathing got slower and slower. Daichi knew he had to be quick.

"Tsukishima," Daichi said softly, turning his body and showing behind him what Tsukishima probably didn't see. His tears were blurring everything but he looked up, seeing what Daichi cleared the way for him to see.

Sugawara. And Nishinoya. And Tanaka, Kiyoko, Akaashi, Bokuto, Futakuchi, Kuroo and other people Tsukishima hadn't met yet, but they were all there, going into different rooms and bringing out different people who were interrogating, then saving whoever else was there.

Daichi didn't bring the police.

"I'll take him to the hospital," Daichi nodded at him. "He'll be okay."

With that, Daichi went off in the other direction, Yamaguchi's blood leaving a trail as he walked, but the bleeding was lessening. All Tsukishima could do now was pray.

"Honestly," he could hear Kageyama from the other room, walking out carrying Hinata. Hinata took a bad beating too, but he looked considerably better than Yamaguchi, only having bruises all over his body and no bleeding. "You're crazy."  
Hinata smiled widely up at Kageyama, how he could do it Tsukishima wasn't sure. But Hinata could, a bright wide smile on his face as he was carried by Kageyama.  
"I knew you would come for me!" The smaller exclaimed. "I could feel it!"

Tsukishima felt sick. So sick, he wanted to puke. He watched in blurry vision, Kuroo barging into a room, a few gunshots going off then dragging a dead body out. After that he was carrying someone else out of the room, equally injured but alive.  
Everyone was doing it.

"4-Eyes," Bokuto called out, catching Tsukishima when he fell, a woozy feeling rushing through his body.

Right. Tsukishima got shot too. Twice.

"4-Eyes?" Bokuto seemed to notice the blood dripping from Tsukishima's body. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he went limp in Bokuto's arms. Bokuto's eyes widened, realizing what had happened.

"We got a man down! Man down!"

Tsukishima could hear Bokuto screaming, but the world was fading slowly. His life was dark, pitch black and empty. His body was giving out finally, tired and cold.

The last thing he could see was Yamaguchi smiling at him.

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

"-awake?"  
"The doctor said a few days though."  
"He's a fighter. He won't let a few gunshots kill him."  
"I don't think it was the gun shots that hurt him the most."

Tsukishima's eyes were slowly opening, looking up to a bright whiteness. Heaven? No, that can't be right.

"He's awake!" He was very certain that was Kuroo's voice, and Kuroo couldn't be in heaven either. "He's awake! Tsukishima, can you hear me? You good, man?"

Tsukishima turned his head slightly, but he noticed he was wearing to an oxygen tank. His body wasn't moving that much, but he was getting more feeling as he realized little by little that he was still alive.

"Tsukishima? Come on, talk to me. You good?" Tsukishima couldn't talk yet, still processing what was happening. In a few seconds Kuroo turned into Kuroo and Bokuto, then Kuroo, Bokuto and Akaashi. They were all looking down at him, checking to see if he was alright.

"Give him some space," Akaashi said, pulling the two of them back so they were looking at him from a distance. "He's probably confused."

Tsukishima was confused. He couldn't remember everything, but he remembered killing Saiki. Was this a prison hospital? It seemed pretty nice for one.

"...Yamaguchi..." Tsukishima whispered. When he spoke his voice was hoarse and cracking. His throat was so dry and it hurt to talk, but he needed to know where Yamaguchi was. He needed to know he was safe.

"Yama...guchi..." Tsukishima whispered again, watching the three look down at him. Why weren't they responding?

"Wait till you're better, Tsukishima," Akaashi said softly, not coming closer to his bed. Tsukishima couldn't understand, just wanting to know if Yamaguchi was okay. "Go back to sleep."

Tsukishima didn't want to go back to sleep. He wanted to see Yamaguchi. He wanted to know he was alright. He wanted to hold him again.

But his eyes were closing, not listening to what he wanted. Then, Tsukishima was sleeping again.

Day I.

"You gotta eat something, Tsukishima. Or else you really can't get up."

Kageyama was trying to feed Tsukishima his first meal since properly waking up, but Tsukishima couldn't eat anything. There wasn't even anything in his stomach and he felt like he was going to throw up.

"Come on, quit being a child," Kageyama pressed again, holding the spoon of jello to Tsukishima's mouth. "Just one bite."

Watching Kageyama taking care of him like a kid was humiliating. But he guessed he couldn't complain too much since it turned out it was Kageyama who saved his life back there, shooting the man who choked him.  
Reluctantly, Tsukishima opened his mouth and ate the jello.

"I just want to know what happened with Yamaguchi."

That was the other thing. No one was telling him what happened with Yamaguchi. No one was giving him updates, no one was giving him answers. He just wanted to see him.

"I told you, he's still sleeping," Kageyama repeated, the same answer everyone's been giving him. It didn't tell Tsukishima if Yamaguchi was okay though. "He's just resting."

Tsukishima pretended to be content with that answer, eating another bite of jello before telling Kageyama he was full. Kageyama gave him some water after too, telling him he needed it to help him get his strength back.

"When you're better, then you can see Yamaguchi."

That was the only thing that was keeping him from rejecting anymore of the food. To see Yamaguchi again, that was what he needed. Making sure he wasn't too late saving him.

"Now sleep, Tsukishima," Kageyama pressed the descend button on Tsukishima's bed, making him lay down all the way. Tsukishima couldn't do anything but sleep lately, he was sort of getting tired of it.   
Tsukishima watched as Kageyama started leaving the room.

"Don't give anyone else a hard time like you do to me. Not everyone is as nice as I am."

Day II.

"What happened with Saiki's men?" 

Futakuchi was taking care of him that day, but he didn't say much. Instead was just sitting to the side, reading a book and giving Tsukishima water whenever he asked for it. Tsukishima preferred him over Kageyama so far.  
Futakuchi looked at Tsukishima and raised an eyebrow before going back to his book.

"You know, court stuff," Futakuchi shrugged. "Law, lawyers, judges. All the police involved too, they're getting prosecuted. Can't way to see that!" Tsukishima didn't laugh with him.

"How did you get that location?" Tsukishima asked, having wondered before how Futakuchi was exactly able to track a vague location of Aone. Futakuchi looked at him again and this time put his book down.

"Hm, well, Aone is quite intimidating looking, right?" Tsukishima didn't have to nod. "Well, police are always suspicious of him because of that. It's a big problem, we've almost gotten caught so many times," Futakuchi sighed dramatically, then grinned at Tsukishima, pointing right at his jaw.  
"When Aone finally got his wisdom teeth out, I told the dentist to sew back in a tracking device. In case something happens to him."

Tsukishima made a face, grimacing at the thought. It seemed like Futakuchi liked putting things in mouths.

"It's worked up till now. I'm always able to track him down when I get worried. But since it was underground, it was really hard to get a proper signal. I'm really glad you guys were there to save him," Futakuchi sighed, giving Tsukishima tight smile. "Thanks. Again."

Tsukishima turned away, trying to look at something else now to focus his attention on.

"And Aone?" Tsukishima asked. "How is he?"

He couldn't see Futakuchi's face when he asked, so he couldn't tell how that question made him feel. When it took him to long to respond, Tsukishima whipped his head, only to see Futakuchi's eyes filled with tears, a sad smile on his face.

"Sometimes...I wonder what I did," Futakuchi laughed, wiping his eyes harshly to the point where they turned red. "To have someone love me like he does."

Day III.

"I'm settling things. Just focus on getting better."

Daichi's shift consisted of physical therapy and more feeding Tsukishima. He was getting stronger every day, everyone could see it and Tsukishima could definitely feel it. Daichi was now helping him stand again.

"Does it hurt?" After getting shot in the thigh, Tsukishima figured it would take a while for him to stand properly for a while. Nishinoya must have really had a hard time while recovering.

"Not really," Tsukishima shook his head, holding onto Daichi's shoulders and looking down. His legs got a bit skinnier after days of not eating solid food and barely moving. He was losing a lot of muscle. "But, I think I'm done for today."

Tsukishima sat back down on his bed. He's accepted defeat with asking how Yamaguchi was, no one giving him a proper answer, and just focusing on becoming normal again. After getting better, everyone promised he could see Yamaguchi again.   
At least that meant Yamaguchi was in a good enough condition to see. 

"There's a lot to be done, so the courts are focusing on the police first," Daichi explained when Tsukishima asked what was happening with everything. Apparently, Daichi pulled strings and managed to get half a floor of a hospital for the mafia members who got injured. They couldn't stay forever though, so everyone was doing their best to get better.

"What will happen to you guys...I'm working on it. They're not using the evidence Saiki got on you since it was filed under an illegal substance, but they're gonna subpoena it. So..." Daichi shrugged, but Tsukishima knew what it meant - 'be prepared'.

Tsukishima was getting better, but he looked dejected. His face had more colour, but he looked tired all the time despite always sleeping. He was skinnier even though he was eating bigger meals now, and his voice was back to normal though he didn't talk much.

When Daichi looked down at him, his heart ached with him.

"Hey, Tsukishima," Daichi called out softly, getting Tsukishima to look up at him. There was a small smile on his face, maybe with a bit of mischief. 

"How about we see Yamaguchi?"

Tsukishima was being pushed in a wheelchair to the end of the hallway. Daichi warned him that he couldn't be too loud, but Tsukishima didn't see that as the problem. He was anxious, each second feeling like an hour.

"Okay," Daichi whispered, leaving Tsukishima on the wheelchair for a moment before opening the door for him, then went back so he could push Tsukishima inside Yamaguchi's room.

The breath he was holding hitched. 

Yamaguchi was there. Laying there, wires and an oxygen masked hooked up to him. Yamaguchi was alive. His heart was working, even though the rate was low, Yamaguchi was alive.   
Alive and getting better.

"He hasn't woken up yet," Daichi explained softly, pushing Tsukishima's chair beside Yamaguchi's bed. Tsukishima immediately reached out for his hand and held it.  
"He lost a lot of blood that day."

The tears started once again, and Tsukishima couldn't control it. They were silent sobs, his lips pressed against the Yamaguchi's palm. His whole body was shaking, not being able to say anything. Even if he said something though, there wouldn't be any reply.

"I'll give you a few minutes," he heard Daichi say, only being able to nod. He could hear the door open and close, but he didn't look up.

Tsukishima couldn't do much but cry.

If Tsukishima was unconscious for 4 days, and now he was awake for 3, Yamaguchi has been like this for a whole week. Barely breathing, only surviving. 

Even though Tsukishima didn't believe in a god, he prayed so damn hard.

"Yamaguchi, please," Tsukishima sobbed into his hand, kissing his palm over and over. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I put you through this. I'm sorry." His sobbing got louder, but he quieted down quickly. 

"Yamaguchi, please," another hiccup and silent tears. "Wake up."

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

His hand jerked slowly. His chest was rising more and more. His eyes cracked open only a little bit, but Tsukishima could see it. The heart monitor's number was rising.

"Nurse!"

Tsukishima could've stood up then and there. "Nurse! Yama-Yamaguchi! He's awake! This patient is awake!"

Tsukishima wasn't sure if anyone outside could hear, but he didn't want to leave Yamaguchi either as he woke up. Yamaguchi's eyes were opening ever so slowly, his pupils fixating on Tsukishima.

"Yamaguchi? Yamaguchi, you're okay. You're okay, I promise," Tsukishima sobbed, hand still in his, this time holding it to his chest. "You're okay, I promise. You're okay."

Yamaguchi didn't respond at first, watching as Tsukishima broke down, barely able to move. A few minutes passed and the nurses barged in, all with supplies in their hands, taking a good look at Yamaguchi.

But Yamaguchi's eyes were on Tsukishima.

"...Tsuki..." 

His voice was as bad as Tsukishima's, maybe worse, when he first woke up. Barely there and croaking like he wouldn't be able to talk again.

"Shh, it's okay," Tsukishima hushed him, not wanting him to waste any energy. "It's okay, just rest."

Yamaguchi didn't seem to be listening though, holding Tsukishima's hand back, even though there was no strength in it. Tsukishima could feel the sincerity, so he didn't let go.

"Tsuki," Yamaguchi tried again, his eyes drooping down, like he was about to go back to sleep. Even so, he was still keeping them open to look at Tsukishima.

"Do...you know..." he breathed in, "how much...." and out.

"I love you..."

Tsukishima sobbed again and again, louder than before. The nurses had to push him out despite his refusals, but he couldn't fight them.

Perhaps, just maybe, Tsukishima did not know. 


	14. Waking Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys are figuring out what happens now with Saiki exposed and mafia information out there. Tsukishima is just glad to see Yamaguchi awake.

"All the police that were involved are under arrest and being interrogated. It will take a while considering just how many were working in on this, so you have some time to relax and recover, but I suggest you be prepared for some consequences as well. I'm doing everything I can since you did take down Saiki, but with everything you've done before...it'll be difficult."

Daichi was talking, but Tsukishima could only hear his voice and not his words. He was taken back to his room, at the time sobbing so loud and so hard that it strained his heart which was still relatively weak, so they had to do a general anesthesia to make sure he didn't ruin the progress he's had healing.  
He was awake again in a few hours though.

"Tsukishima? Are you listening?" Tsukishima's head turned to look at Daichi, then nodded slowly. Daichi could tell he was lying though, sighing and then nodding back.

"This isn't a good time. We still have at least a week before it's your turn anyway, so I'll come back," Daichi left him some food, reminding Tsukishima he had to eat properly or else he really wouldn't heal in time.

"I know your anxious and scared right now," Daichi said softly, going over to Tsukishima and putting a hand on his shoulder lightly, giving him a small smile. Tsukishima definitely looked better though, there was actually colour in his face now and he looked more alert.  
"I'll be back in a few days. Take a lot of rest, alright?" It was the last thing Daichi said before he left.

Tsukishima couldn't rest easy though. Not when he knew Yamaguchi was awake. He wanted to talk to him, he wanted to hear his voice again - Tsukishima wanted to apologize.  
That was certainly a priority. Apologize to Yamaguchi for putting him through such an experience. For getting him hurt even though he had nothing to do with Karasuno or the things Tsukishima did. Yamaguchi didn't know.

He didn't know and it was all Tsukishima's fault.

He's tried asking the nurses for some reports, requested to be wheeled to Yamaguchi's room multiple times, but their answers were all the same. Yamaguchi took a really bad blow from the torture and he was taking time to heal.

That made Tsukishima feel even worse.

Another week passed and Tsukishima was still getting better himself. He could walk now, but he limped. The doctor said depending on well his body healed, that limp might be permanent.

"The police are still under investigation," Daichi told him, one hospital visit when Daichi brought him some strawberry shortcake. Tsukishima basically inhaled it, Daichi not hesitating to give him another slice.

"They killed more people than we anticipated. Apparently a lot of people had the same idea, wanting to take them down." There was a sad smile on Daichi's face as he spoke, and before Tsukishima could comment Daichi spoke first.

"I still haven't said it, right" he chuckled softly, looking up at Tsukishima. "Thank you. You helped take Saiki down when I was in a big stump. I had to do the case privately so I had no help. It probably didn't occur to you, but you were helping me too when you found him." Daichi was smiling, but Tsukishima couldn't smile back.  
"So thank you. Thank you so much.'

Tsukishima felt like he didn't deserve the thanks. He felt like if anything, all he did was what he would've done whether Saiki was working with the police or not - and that would get him arrested without question.

"Ah, well," Daichi looked at the time, sighing softly then looked to Tsukishima excitedly. "Thank you isn't enough, right?" Tsukishima raised an eyebrow at him, wondering why Daichi looked so eager.

"Should we see Yamaguchi now?"

Of course Tsukishima was scared. He was scared with just how much damage was done. He was scared that Yamaguchi was only barely there and holding on. He was scared that something happened to him that was be irreversible when he didn't deserve any of the hurt he already experienced. 

He was scared Yamaguchi would hate him.

"You alright?" Daichi asked in a soft voice, trying to calm Tsukishima down outside the door of Yamaguchi's room. Tsukishima walked this time, not intending to look helpless in his wheelchair.  
He managed a small nod before Daichi opened the door, revealing Yamaguchi and his state.

His right leg was elevated and bandages covered up most of his body. He had a bandage on his left eye and wires hooked up to his body connected to lots of medication. It seemed like he was healing slowly but surely.

Yamaguchi was also awake.

"Yama..guchi.." Tsukishima whispered softly, and Yamaguchi heard him. His head slowly turned, eyes widening when he saw Tsukishima again. His heart monitor started going crazy, the number rising and rising so the nurse had to come in and make sure he was okay.

"Sorry," Tsukishima mumbled an apology, but he didn't leave the room either, staying there and keeping his focus on Yamaguchi. Until the nurse left, he didn't say anything, just silently observing and waiting patiently.

"Don't strain yourself," the nurse scolded, certainly coming from a place of concern and even frustration. Tsukishima just watched as she recorded some numbers down, only having come in the room to make sure Yamaguchi was fine after his heart rate doubled. She was gone in the next few minutes.

Then there was the two.

"How are you feeling?" Tsukishima asked in a quiet voice, unable to think straight but couldn't think about anything else. When Yamaguchi was in front of him, alive, he didn't want to do anything else but be with him.   
He didn't want to be anywhere else but beside him.

"I'm....better," Yamaguchi answered with an equally small voice. His face was still bruised and it probably hurt a lot, but Yamaguchi smiled. Smiled right at Tsukishima, not being able to look away either. 

Tsukishima felt an ache in his chest. That smile hasn't changed, the sincerity was still there.

"Sit," Yamaguchi said, slowly patting his bed, a small spot by him. "Sit with me, Tsuki."

"Why didn't you tell me?" 

Of course, the first question Tsukishima was expecting, and one he's asked himself many times as well. Why didn't he tell Yamaguchi in the first place? What was he trying to protect exactly? Because obviously, his methods didn't work.

Tsukishima was sitting beside Yamaguchi on his bed, holding his hand and looking down. He wondered why Yamaguchi wasn't angry with him, or at least it didn't look like it. He wondered why Yamaguchi wasn't telling him to leave, telling him he needed more time.  
They were talking to each other normally, giving Tsukishima a chance.

"I can't say for sure," Tsukishima replied softly, keeping his gaze down at their hands, their fingers intertwined. "I was scared. I didn't want to lose you. I was a coward. A lot of things like this and obviously," he let out a bitter chuckle. "It backfired."

Yamaguchi was looking right at Tsukishima, trying to look at his face but Tsukishima wasn't looking up.

"Were you planning on telling me?"

The easy answer was yes. It was always on the back of his mind, and of course he'd had tried. But he always backed out last minute, telling himself the timing was off. In a way, he did plan, just never executed.

"Eventually," he ended up saying. "I just never knew how."

Again, there was silence between them. It was always Yamaguchi talking, even now he was asking all the questions. The only difference now was Tsukishima was answering properly.

"Did you think...I was going to leave you?"

Tsukishima's whole body tensed. He didn't want to nod, he didn't want to admit it. But there was no more room for lies and covering up.

"Yes."

Yamaguchi let out a soft breath, nodding slowly in response. His hand, the one that was holding Tsukishima's, let go and reached up to cup Tsukishima's cheek, raising up Tsukishima's face so that he could look at him properly. 

Tsukishima didn't feel it, but his eyes watered.

"I love you so much," Yamaguchi whispered softly to him, closing his eyes and leaning in to Tsukishima. Tsukishima leaned in as well. Their foreheads were pressed together, Yamaguchi's thumb stroking Tsukishima's cheek.

"So much."

It was dumb to cry again, especially when Tsukishima's cried as many tears as he could these past few days. But he couldn't help it anymore. They weren't sobs, it wasn't like before when his crying was continuous and heavy.  
Now his tears were slow. Running down his cheek like a soft stream, landing on Yamaguchi's hand, catching them.

"I love you too," Tsukishima whispered back, his voice cracking as he cried. Yamaguchi smiled again, and Tsukishima just couldn't understand how. How could he smile in this damn situation, when his whole body probably hurt, his heart probably broken and had just experienced something that he would never get over, never forget.  
How could they smile?  
How could they all smile so easily?

But as Yamaguchi wiped his tears away, leaning in slowly and placing his lips softly on Tsukishima's. Their kiss staying like that, gentle, delicate, feeling as Yamaguchi put his love, not only into words, but into actions too.

Tsukishima found himself smiling as well.

"You can go back home once your guardian signs you out," the nurse told Tsukishima as he changed out of the hospital gown and into some regular clothes. He was finally getting discharged after about 3 weeks of healing. Things were still messy, and work still needed to be done, so Tsukishima healed as fast as he could.

"Thank you," Tsukishima bowed to her, offering a small smile before he left the room. Originally he was going to go to the front desk where he would sign out, but he decided to make a little detour, just one more look before he left the hospital for good. Knocking on the door, Tsukishima entered, peaking in and making sure he was awake.

"Tsuki!" Yamaguchi greeted as much of a smile as he could smile. He was in the middle of reading a book, one Hinata brought him the other day. Tsukishima entered the room, sitting down beside Yamaguchi, smiling back at him.

"How're you feeling?" He asked, running a hand through Yamaguchi's hair which had been pinned up. His eye bandage was gone and even though his eye still wasn't completely healed, Tsukishima felt like every day it was getting better.

"Better. The nurse said at least 4 days before I could do physical therapy," Yamaguchi told him, putting his book to the side and reaching up to hold Tsukishima's hand, bringing it down in front of them. Tsukishima just smiled at him.

"Yamaguchi," he said softly, bumping his forehead against Yamaguchi's. "I'm so sorry."

Yamaguchi gave him a sad smile back, bumping his forehead lightly against Tsukishima's this time. "How long are you gonna keep saying that for?"

It's been a week since Tsukishima had visited Yamaguchi for the first time, and a week since Tsukishima had explained everything - along with begging Yamaguchi for forgiveness.

If you could even call it begging. Yamaguchi seemed to forgive him right away, too quickly for Tsukishima's comfort, so he's been apologizing formally every day since.

"The rest of our lives," Tsukishima declared stubbornly making Yamaguchi laugh. His smile went from a sad to a much more genuinely happy one, nodding in approval with Tsukishima's statement.

"I can't wait for that then."

Tsukishima unfortunately had to go though, his discharge time already having passed. He kissed Yamaguchi goodbye before he left, heading to the front desk where Daichi was there, waiting for him so he could sign him out.

"How do you feel, Tsukishima?" Daichi asked, patting Tsukishima's back as they started signing papers, Daichi signing in as his guardian. "How's Yamaguchi?"

Tsukishima couldn't help but smile. Even hearing Yamaguchi's name clouded his mind and made him feel pretty good.

"Better. We're both better," Tsukishima replied, nodding his head reassuringly - reassuring himself mostly.

"That's good," Daichi grinned, signing the last paper with Tsukishima, then reached into his pocket, holding out something for Tsukishima. Tsukishima's eyes widened when he looked down in Daichi's hand.

"Yours, right? I grabbed them from your house when they searched for evidence. Don't worry, most of your stuff is still there except for the plans you had with Saiki."

Tsukishima didn't move, so Daichi took initiative, unfolding the temples of the glasses and putting them on Tsukishima.

"There. You can see now," he laughed. Tsukishima gulped, nodding at Daichi then surprsingly, smiled at him. 

His glasses defined him in a way. Calling himself 4-Eyes was a statement, making sure everyone knew who he was. Now, he was just felt like another, regular man that wore glasses.. There was no significant meaning behind wearing his glasses, his goggles, anymore besides being able to see. Tsukishima put these on again feeling more normal, more safe.

"Thank you, Daichi," Tsukishima's smile only got wider as he followed Daichi out of the hospital. "Thank you so much."

The trials and investigations were on TV, broadcast everywhere on every program that gave news out. There were different headlines : _Police Conspiracy_ ; _Police Kill For Justice?_ ; _Our Country's Pride and Protection - Are We Really Safe?_

Tsukishima had mixed feelings watching the news and how much information was actually there. All the research he had done on Saiki, every bit of evidence he had on their plans - they probably had all the information they needed to get Karasuno and every other mafia arrested.

"Alright," Daichi said, in what was apparently Daichi's new office. Big, spacious, nice - he definitely deserved it. "Now, the military and the police that _didn't_ betray our country have all agreed that you helped significantly with this case," Daichi told him, holding out a lot of legal documents that Tsukishima briefly forgot, but could recognize right away. An NDA was presented to him, with at least 50 pages of writing.

"But if you take into account what you've done in the mafia, you're not exactly a saint, Tsukishima." 

Tsukishima wanted to laugh. No, he was not a saint. He wasn't even a good person. He didn't kill Saiki with justice on his mind.  
As he read the NDA he realized that the government wanted to make him shut up about admitting that the mafia helped take down the police - of course they would.

"I know it's not ideal," Daichi said, seeing Tsukishima's face and realizing that it wasn't the most fair contract. There was a lot of flaws in the system. "We're far from being perfect. But this is the best they could do. If citizens hear that mafias were the one who caught the police doing something wrong and illegal, well, think of it in their perspective. That's terrifying. That means there must not be a lot of safe places for them here. So, consider that. Please."

Tsukishima understood, it's not like he wanted credit for taking down the police. He just found it ironic how they were still trying to keep everything hushed up while trying to arrest Tsukishima at the same time.  
Would they bask in the glory of 'catching' mafia members too?

"What about Yamaguchi?" Tsukishima asked, looking up at Daichi. He still wasn't done reading the contract. "What would happen to him? I think he deserves some sort of, I don't know, compensation? I know he was in there for me, but the police were the ones that took him there. Shouldn't he get something?"

Daichi took a moment to think about it then nodded. "I'll look into it for you. I'm sure they didn't plan on letting Yamaguchi go empty handed."

Tsukishima snorted. He didn't count on that.

"Yamaguchi's not immune to the law either," Daichi shrugged, Tsukishima furrowing his eyebrows as Daichi said it, not understanding. "What do you mean?"

Daichi looked a little startled that Tsukishima seemed not to know, tilting his head a bit. "You...Yamaguchi didn't tell you?" It irritated Tsukishima that obviously he didn't know and Yamaguchi didn't tell him.  
"Tell me what?"

Daichi shook his head, letting out a hardy breath. He rummaged through his desk, taking out a tablet and scrolling through it. He presented Tsukishima a video and his eyes widened.  
It was Yamaguchi's interrogation video.

"How did you get this?""Saiki had them in every room. Wanted to make sure he recorded every word they said when they gave information," Daichi explained, glancing up at Tsukishima.

"Do you wanna watch it?" 

Tsukishima hesitated, unsure what he was about to expect. But this had to do with Yamaguchi, and he didn't want to have to ask. So he nodded, letting Daichi play the video.

_"Your precious 4-Eyes isn't gonna come save you, kid. So just surrender already." Yamaguchi was crying by now, so it must be quite far into the investigation. He only had a few bruises._

_"Stop calling Tsuki that-""Quit talking bac!" Saiki was holding the gun, aiming it at Yamaguchi and every time he moved Yamaguchi flinched. His pupils were shaking, eyeing the gun._

_"You know what. Bring him in," Saiki ordered, the door opening and dragging in someone, a bag over his head. When they took the bag off it revealed one of Saiki's men, gagged and blindfolded, pleading worthless pleads of mercy. All they could hear was wordless screaming._

_"This man was supposed to kill 4-Eyes. He failed though," Saiki put the gun in front of Yamaguchi, raising an eyebrow at him. "If you kill him, then I'll get 4-Eyes for you."_

_At this, Yamaguchi's eyes widened. He didn't look desperate anymore, now more hopeful, looking from the gagged man to Saiki then to the gun. He was hesitating._

_"You really have Tsuki?" Yamaguchi asked in a shaky voice. Saiki just smirked._

_"He's not here with me, but I know where he is, alright? You can either tell me what I need to know or kill this man for me. Then I'll tell you where 4-Eyes is." Yamaguchi didn't look convinced, but he picked up the gun with his tied up wrists._

_"I already told you, I don't know anything," Yamaguchi gulped, Saiki just laughing and nodding. "I know, kid. So that leaves you with one choice."_

_Yamaguchi held the gun, clearly inexperienced, but he managed to get a bullet ready. He was aiming the gun at the gagged man, his hand shaking as he got his finger ready to pull the trigger._

_At the last second, he turned his aim and directed the gun right at Saiki, pulling the trigger. With his lack of experience though, his aim was off, hitting Saiki in the thigh rather than a more damaging place and unfortunately, just hurting Saiki and not killing him._

_"Dammit!" Saiki screamed and before Yamaguchi could shoot him again someone had him detained. Yamaguchi still had the gun though, so he pulled the trigger again, right against the chest of the person who was detaining him, shooting him dead to the ground. 3 more men rushed in, Yamaguchi shooting another time, but then they held him tightly, taking the gun away._

_"Ohh, fucking hell, kid. You're telling me you didn't learn that from 4-Eyes," Saiki grunted, leaning against one of his men and was getting treated on his thigh right away. "Don't bullshit me! You were sobbing just a few seconds ago!"_

_When Yamaguchi looked up at him he wasn't crying. He wasn't desperate or scared - he didn't even look like he regretted what he did. His eyes were similar to Tsukishima's when he was after someone.  
Determined. Fierce. Angry._

_"Give...me....Tsuki!" Yamaguchi screamed between his teeth, banging his fists on the table. Someone had to tie him down with cables instead of rope this time, then another person came in the room with a baseball bat._

_"You're gonna regret it kid," Saiki snarled at him, Yamaguchi being thrown on the floor. Someone else pulled out a knife._

_"Better pray to your 4-Eyes real hard now, alright? Maybe he'll come if you scream loud enough."_

The video ended leaving Tsukishima stunned, without noticing his hands shaking. He looked up at Daichi, not being able to comment - talk in general - for a moment.

"The court says since he doesn't look remorseful, it's hard to claim this as self defense, especially when he killed 2 people," Daichi explained. "He wouldn't get a life sentence, but he'd get something for sure."

Tsukishima couldn't believe it. This whole time, he thought he was protecting Yamaguchi. 

But did Yamaguchi not need it this whole time?

"I know, it's a lot. But in my opinion, he did the right thing," Daichi said, putting the tablet away then shifting his gaze to the NDA. "Listen, the world is...a corrupt place. Whether you sign this or not, it's your choice. There's pros and cons either way. It's up to you."

Tsukishima was still processing the video, but this time he wasn't totally out of it. He was just speechless.

"There's a lot of things that we need to accommodate to, a lot of things we need to improve. All we can do is choose the best option even if it's not perfect, so," Daichi pulled out more papers, showing them to Tsukishima and sliding them to Tsukishima.

"Hopefully you can choose the best option for yourself."

It was two applications for a Green Card to America.


	15. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is gradually being cleared up. Yamaguchi and Tsukishima are now figuring out the rest of their lives slowly, step by step, and most importantly, together.

2 Months Later

_"-all lieutenants, captains, commanding officers and regular police have been tracked down. Despite the majority of authorities that were involved, National Japanese Military have taken responsibility over the case, investigating further and prosecuting accordingly for each offense. Over 300 police officers have been arrested and 70 1st degree murder cases opened. Sources say that this could take over several months to fully figure out, and NJP wish to assure our citizens safety by assigning a curfew for all major cities hit. More on that later, this was Minami Kyo, back to you."_

"Babe! Have you seen my glasses?" Tsukishima called out from the bedroom, searching around the room, but he still couldn't see them. Everything was so goddamn blurry.

"Hm?" Yamaguchi came into the room, a cast on his leg, limping over. "You lost them again?" Yamaguchi looked around as well, then reached over the desk, giggling softly as he unfolded the temples of the glasses.

"Here," he put them on Tsukishima, then kissed his nose. "Can you see me now?"

Tsukishima could see him. He could see him clearly. Yamaguchi's face has healed well, the bruises pretty much gone. His leg was still in a cast though (and would be for a while) but his arms and waste were completely healed. He could see Yamaguchi's collarbones since he was wearing one of Tsukishima's shirts and it was too big for him. Yamaguchi was looking better with each passing day.

"I can," Tsukishima hummed, kissing Yamaguchi's forehead. "And you look beautiful."

Yamaguchi turned pink, hiding his face into Tsukishima's chest and whining softly. "So embarrassing." Tsukishima couldn't help but laugh, shaking his head and pulling Yamaguchi into a hug, kissing the top of his head.

"Am I? Should I embarrass you more then?" Carefully, Tsukishima lifted Yamaguchi up bridal style, carrying him to the bed and laying him on it gently, then hovered over him, showering him with kisses, starting with his forehead then going down to his nose and then his cheeks then his chin then his lips. Yamaguchi was giggling the whole time, holding Tsukishima's head in his hands.

"You're excited today," Yamaguchi observed, stopping Tsukishima when he made it to his lips then pulling him for a real kiss, a long kiss. A kiss where Yamaguchi had to run his hands through Tsukishima's hair and Tsukishima had to hold Yamaguchi's waist. A kiss that was like their last one, but they both knew that wasn't the case.

"Mhm, you make me excited," Tsukishima chuckled, kissing Yamaguchi's forehead again then standing up. "Come on. We have somewhere to go."

Yamaguchi sat up at this, raising an eyebrow at Tsukishima, but Tsukishima didn't see it. "Now? But we still have 3 hours." Tsukishima turned back to look at him, a small smile on his face.

"I know. I'm gonna take you somewhere else first." He held out his hand, waiting for Yamaguchi to take it. "Just trust me." 

Yamaguchi wasn't sure where they were driving to, but it seemed that Tsukishima knew exactly the place he wanted to go since his face looked like it he had a goal. Everything they needed was in the back of the car, Tanaka having lent to them for the day.   
Yamaguchi was curiously looking over at Tsukishima.

"Where are we going?" Every time Yamaguchi asked Tsukishima would just smile, and answer shortly. "You'll see."

He wasn't expecting that they would end up at a cemetery. But Tsukishima was parking and getting out, grabbing some things from the back, so Yamaguchi followed. He was still confused as he trailed behind Tsukishima, but didn't ask any questions. He washed his hands with Tsukishima before they entered the graveyard. 

It made much more sense when Tsukishima stopped in front of a grave, kneeling down in front of it. Yamaguchi's eyes widened reading the name, then quickly kneeled beside Tsukishima.

_Tsukishima Akiteru_

"Tsuki..." Yamaguchi said softly, but Tsukishima didn't respond, taking out some incense and lighting it. Yamaguchi stayed quiet, watching as Tsukishima did a small ceremony, then left the incense burning on his brother's grave, closing his eyes and putting his hands together.

"Akiteru-nii-san," Tsukishima whispered softly, but Yamaguchi could hear him clearly. "I'm sorry it took so long for me to visit. But I'm here now."

Tsukishima had been avoiding doing this properly, visiting his brother's grave, scared that his brother would be ashamed of what he had become. He knew his brother wouldn't have wanted him to be the monster Tsukishima accidentally turned himself into. He didn't want his brother's spirit to be upset.   
Sometimes, he wondered if Akiteru ever really rested in peace, watching Tsukishima ruin lives and kill people.

Hopefully now, though it didn't fix everything, his brother would be able to smile from where he was from, even if it was only a little.

"I brought someone very important, I hope you don't mind," Tsukishima continued on, though he didn't open his eyes still. "Someone who has been taking care of me all this time. I'm sure you would have loved him too."

Yamaguchi could hear Tsukishima's voice shaking, but it was clear Tsukishima didn't want to cry. He kept his eyes closed too, putting his hands together as well, joining Tsukishima.

"I'm sorry..." Tsukishima breathed out quietly, his voice barely there. "I am so sorry...you had to watch everything I did. And think it was all for you." Tsukishima went from kneeling, to bowing completely on his hands and knees. 

"I hope you can forgive me, and finally rest in peace."

Yamaguchi cracked an eye open to see Tsukishima, but his face was in the ground so he couldn't see if he was crying. Tsukishima wasn't making too much noise except for his breathing, and he wasn't shaking. So Yamaguchi took the opportunity.

"Tsukishima Akiteru-san," Yamaguchi said softly after. "My name is Yamaguchi Tadashi. It's an honor to finally meet you." Yamaguchi bowed as well, but didn't stay in the position like Tsukishima did, going back up on his knees with his hands together.

"Your brother has taken care of me and kept me safe, so I hope I can do the same. Please, accept me in your family with kindness," Yamaguchi bowed again, closing his eyes. A shiver went through his back as he came back up in his kneeling position. 

"I love Tsukishima Kei very much. So please, take care of both of us and rest in peace."

The two were walking back out, hand in hand. After Tsukishima left some offerings, he went on explaining the night he died to Yamaguchi, this time with a sad smile.

"He probably didn't intend for me to be like this. No, I knew he wouldn't want me to end up like this," Tsukishima looked down at his lap, sighing softly. Yamaguchi pressed his lips together, squeezing Tsukishima's hand.

"Your brother loved you. I know it," Yamaguchi whispered back to him, Tsukishima looking up at Yamaguchi with sorrowful eyes. They were silently asking, _'how do you know that?'_.

"He's protected you till now, hasn't he?" Yamaguchi said, pulling Tsukishima in a hug, pulling his head to his shoulder so Tsukishima was tucked safely there. He wasn't sure if Tsukishima cried, but he could definitely feel him shaking.

"Your brother was watching over you. I know it. Because you were also watching the people who you cared for, weren't you?" Tsukishima sighed in Yamaguchi's shoulder, not answering, but Yamaguchi didn't need an answer. He knew what Tsukishima was thinking.

"And if it weren't for you, a lot more bad things would've happened, Tsuki," Yamaguchi patted his head, kissing the top of it. "I know you made a lot of mistakes. I know you think you're someone who doesn't deserve forgiveness. But before anyone else can forgive you, you have to forgive yourself too, okay? Promise me that."

Tsukishima still wasn't able to respond properly.

They were back in the car, Tsukishima's hands at the wheel but he wasn't able to start the car. Yamaguchi reached over to hold his hand, smiling softly at him. Tsukishima smiled back at him, pulling his hand up to his lips and kissed it.

"Yamaguchi," Tsukishima' mumbled over his knuckles. "I am so sorry. For everything."

Usually, Yamaguchi would tell him it was fine. He would say Tsukishima didn't need to apologize anymore, that Tsukishima wasn't in the wrong and that Yamaguchi loved him with all his heart.  
Today he had a feeling that that wasn't what Tsukishima wanted to hear.

"I forgive you," Yamaguchi replied, watching as Tsukishima's lips went from each knuckle, down to his fingers then to his palm, kissing the middle. He would give Tsukishima all the time he needed.

"Your brother forgives you too."

Tsukishima stopped, finally his eyes opening and looking over at Yamaguchi. He didn't say anything, the two just looking at each other, but right now they didn't need words. No words could suffice.

_I love you._

It didn't need to be said. They knew and they believed it.   
There wasn't a need for words when they had their hearts beating in sync, together.   
As long as they were together, what words could measure up to such a feeling?

Airports used to freak Tsukishima out. The amount of security he would have to go through, being off the ground and airplane food - it all freaked him out.

But now he was here, luggage in one hand and Yamaguchi's hand in the other walking to check-in. They had their papers and passports ready, not hesitating when they were asked for them. Everything was cleared up, according to Daichi.

Everything and everyone.

"Hinata, your luggage. That's your carry-on."  
"I don't get the difference! They're both bags!"  
"One's a fucking suitcase, Hinata-boke! Give it to me," Kageyama yanked Hinata's bag off his shoulders, switching it with Hinata's luggage and putting it on the cart so they could check it in. Of course, they were still arguing. Arguing, but were holding hands.

"Akaashi, look! It's like a shopping cart, isn't it? I can probably ride it!" Bokuto exclaimed excitedly, pushing the luggage cart with full speed then jumping on it so he could take about a 3 second ride before jumping off, laughing loudly. Akaashi just watched him, making sure he wasn't getting hurt.  
"Wow, Bokuto-san, that looks like so much fun." It sounded sarcastic coming from Akaashi's mouth, but they realized that Akaashi actually probably did think it was fun if Bokuto was doing it.

"Are you sure you don't want to come to America with us?" Tsukishima asked Futakuchi again, handing him two plane tickets to Switzerland. Futakuchi and Aone were holding hands, a huge luggage between the two of them. Futakuchi nodded with a big smile on his face.  
"Mhm! My sweet Aone wants to go where the chocolate is nice and the mountains are high. Isn't that adorable?" Futakuchi cooed, scratching the back of Aone's neck, making Aone's eyes close in pleasure. Yamaguchi and Tsukishima laughed uncomfortably, still uneasy around Aone.

"By the way, thanks again. For saving our asses." Futakuchi and Aone were able to get immunity because of Daichi, but if it weren't for Tsukishima explaining their participation, Futakuchi and Aone would probably be serving hard time too. Thankfully, Daichi was nice enough to come to Futakuchi's lair and see the how he could track Aone all this time.  
"I hope I can see you again sometime, Tsukishima." Futakuchi smiled at him, then bowed, along with Aone who gave him a small nod. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi bowed back, waving as the two separated at the terminal.

They were still entering too, having to find their gate which took longer than expected, but all of them found it. They could see their plane out the window, the very one that would take them away to a new life.

"Oh, Noya texted!" Hinata exclaimed excitedly, putting his phone in the middle of all 6 of them so they could take a look. He sent a bunch of photos of him and Asahi in a flower garden, mainly just Asahi blushing, trying to block the camera as the top half of Nishinoya's face hid in the corner.

"Ahh, no fair! I wanted to go to Brazil..." Hinata grumbled, scrolling through the photos. Nishinoya also sent a video which Hinata played, facing the screen so everyone could see.

_"Asahi-san, look at the camera! This is going to our friends!" Asahi turned around, a bed of red roses around him. He smiled shyly, waving at the camera and you could hear Nishinoya in the background squealing._

_"You're so-ah. Never mind," he flipped the camera so it was on him. It looked like Nishinoya got darker, his hair clipped back and his top half shirtless as the Brazil sun hit his skin. His smile was never brighter._

_"We made it to Brazil safely and Asahi-san loves his new garden! I hope you guys are doing okay too, but I'm pretty sure America will be fine. Let's visit each other soon, alright?" Nishinoya made a peace sign then an air kiss._

_"We'll update you frequently! Don't forget to text us too, alright? Bye guys!" He waved, turning the camera back to Asahi who was watering the roses, then the video ended._

Hinata exited the video, pouting a bit. Yamaguchi also looked a bit sad. The parting was a bit sudden, they had to admit, but this was the best option for everyone. And apparently, according to Asahi, the flowers were beautiful in Brazil.

"We'll see each other soon," Tsukishima reassured Yamaguchi, seeing how he must be down that his regular meetings with Nishinoya were now cut down from every day to probably once a year, maybe less. He could understand everyone's empty feeling, but this was their best option, not their perfect one.

"Yeah," Kageyama looked at Hinata, making sure he wouldn't cry. "We can go to Brazil any time, alright? Hey, don't cry, Hinata. Or else." Hinata didn't cry, but he did hug Kageyama, hiding his face in his chest.

It was a sad parting of course. Everyone had to leave Japan, at least for a few years so that everything could get cleared up. All the mafia information that had been leaked wasn't allowed to be used in the end since they were apart of evidence to Saiki's case, but it did lead the military on and they ended up busting a lot of different mafias. However, since it was a bunch of mafias that took down Saiki and the police who were breaking the law, they agreed to meet in the middle.

The main mafia members involved would be granted immunity for the next few years, and if the coast was clear they could return to Japan. But who knew - maybe they could make their lives somewhere else.

"Oh, Akaashi! Kuroo texted!" Bokuto said excitedly, reading the text off of his phone. " _'Made it to Paris with Kenma. Didn't know that I had to speak French. Next time you see me I'll really be bilingual.'"_ Bokuto showed everyone a picture of Kuroo and Kenma in their new apartment, a bunch of boxes around the empty room. Kuroo was kissing Kenma on the cheek, but Kenma wasn't smiling.  
Akaashi insisted he's never looked happier.

"Ah, I really wanna see him," Bokuto sulked, pouting down at his phone and stroking Kuroo's cheek through the screen. Akaashi just patted his head, assuring him they could see each other anytime as long as they worked hard.

Soon, they were on the plane too, buckling up and waiting for lift-off. Tsukishima had a window seat, staring out at the different people working, the orange sky with the setting sun, the airport that they were in just seconds ago.

Everything felt so normal.

And it was only going to get more normal. A life with Yamaguchi, the two of them together, living in the same apartment. Waking up to each other's arms, saying things like 'I'm home' and 'Welcome home'. These things that Tsukishima couldn't do before.  
He was more excited than ever.  
Thinking about it made him smile. They probably wouldn't be used to it at first for sure, and it would take them some time to get used to the culture, but Tsukishima was prepared for anything now. If Yamaguchi was holding his hand, then it was possible.

"Hinata, put your feet down! Someone might come sit here."  
"Oh, they have a cheese platter! Kageyama, do you have money? My wallet's in my bag."  
"Akaashi, I'm cold. The plane is so cold, don't you feel it? Akaashi?"  
"Bokuto-san, pay attention to the flight attendant. She's teaching us what to do if the plane crashes. You might need this information."

Tsukishima couldn't stop smiling. It all felt...right.

"What're you thinking about?" Yamaguchi asked, taking Tsukishima's hand in his, intertwining their fingers. Tsukishima looked at him then laughed - a genuine, feel good laugh.

"I'll tell you later."


End file.
